Powerless II
by AvalonBay
Summary: [Sequel to Powerless]. The rangers had it drilled in their heads all the time by their parents; don't drink and drive. They should've listened. TommyxKim, JasonxTrini, ZackxAngela, BillyxOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Powerless II**

 **Summary** **– [Sequel to Powerless]. The rangers had it drilled in their heads all the time by their parents; don't drink and drive. They should've listened.**

* * *

 **01**

* * *

Zachary Taylor was on a mission and nothing would get in his way when he was on a mission.

Especially when that mission had a party. The light at the end of the tunnel for exam week. The Holy Grail he could only dream of grasping in his hand. His happiness was at stake, having a good time was at stake, _everything_ was at stake.

"And you're sure your parents don't mind us using your family's chalet?" Zack asked Billy, nervously tapping his hands against the top of his desk. He glanced at Ms. Appleby while she stood speaking quietly to Principal Kaplan while the students conversed with each other.

Billy's eyes flickered with confusion as he repeated, "Shallot?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, chalet. That fancy-schmancy humble abode your family uses for skiing trips and Christmas."

At that, a smile stretched across Billy's face and he gently corrected Zack by saying, " _Shallots_ are used as a condiment in Asian cuisine and are sort of like onions, but have a milder flavor. _Chalets_ are a wooden house or cottage with overhanging eaves, typically found in the Swiss Alps."

Zack blinked at him for a moment then said, "Whatever. So, do we have the place or what?"

Jason, who sat behind Zack, started to laugh along with Billy, making Zack grin as well. Hey, he got corrected by the 'Big Time Brain' on almost a daily basis, it was nothing. And, Billy always managed to do it in an endearing way. So much so that Zack always found himself repeating things Billy had said before or regurgited things he'd learned from studying with him.

"I always thought your one-track mind was on girls, but all you've been talking about for this past week was having this party, man," Jason said.

"It's because we need it! We're teenagers. If we don't party, we'll die."

"Actually, if we didn't stop monsters from attacking the _city_ every day, we'd die."

"Whatever." This time, Zack held his hand up in front of Jason's face and turned to face Billy, using the same hand to gently swat him on the arm. "So, do we have it or what?"

Billy smiled and nodded. "My father said we can have the place and use it as long as we want." He lifted a finger in warning before Zack could get too excited. "But we have to leave it the way we found it. Meaning, if we spill something, we must clean it up. If we break something, we must fix it. If there isn't any ice in the machine, we may have to get some. But there's a grocery store nearby. I figured we could have the place for the week and then over the weekend go to the store and get everything we need for the party."

"And since we'll have the cabin to ourselves, and it's a bit out of the way, if there's any monsters that come to fight we can teleport in and out," Jason agreed.

Zack rolled his eyes. "It figures, Mr. Responsibility only cares about the boring stuff."

"There's nothing wrong with being responsible," Billy said, coming to Jason's defense.

"You're right," Zack agreed. He managed to keep his straight face for all of two seconds. "It's just not as fun." He did his best to keep his laugher inside but broke when Jason and Billy laughed as well. Turning his head, Zack lifted his chin to greet Kimberly, Tommy, Trini, and Avalon as they entered the classroom. "Yo, guess what. Billy's got us the hookup! We can use his parent's _chalet."_

Billy laughed again when Zack made sure to pronounce the word right, over-enunciating as he did so. At the news, Kimberly clasped her hands together. "That's so rad, Billy."

"Yeah, I'm glad your parents trust us enough to use the place," Tommy agreed.

"Not just that, we don't have to worry about any supervision," Zack said. "So we can party all week long!"

Sitting at the back of the room, Bulk folded a sheet of paper into an airplane and threw it across the room. He smirked, watching it arc around before turning to Skull, who slumped over his desk, snoring loudly. With a grin, Bulk formed a fist and slammed it onto Skull's desk, shooting him awake.

"Huh? What?" Skull asked, eyes drooping heavily.

Avalon chuckled as she looked over at her friend. "Just go back to sleep, Skull, you're not missing anything."

"Did we take the test yet?" Skull murmured, rubbing at his eyes.

Bulk rolled his eyes. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the back of Skull's head and forced him back down onto the desk as if he hadn't done anything to wake him up in the first place. Then he lifted his chin to address the rangers. "So, you dweebs are having a party? Is this an open invitation or do can we just show up?"

"You're not invited," Zack said almost immediately.

"It's a private party," Trini agreed. A little more diplomatically than Zack had said, but with a sense of strength all the same. Bulk and Skull exchanged glances and Trini continued with, "We just want some time to ourselves to unwind after being slammed by exams."

"Then you don't know what you're missing," Bulk continued. "Because Skull and I are known to party like animals. Right Skull?"

"Yeah, like animals," Skull repeated. He reached out a finger and wiggled it towards Kimberly, as if he were scratching her under the chin and saying, 'coothcie, chootchie, coo'. "You're going to miss out on a lot if we're not there."

Tommy immediately bristled. "Leave her alone, Skull."

"Relax, ponytail," Bulk said with a roll of his eyes. He held up his hand and wiggled them back and forth. "We don't want to go to your stupid party anyway. What are you going to do? Sit around and sew clothes for the homeless? Gather food for the poor? Hold hands and play ring around the rosie?" He pressed his hands to the sides of his face, fluttering his fingertips against his skin. "I'd hate to ruin such a good time. You goodie-goodies are always the same. You don't know how to take any risks."

"I think the biggest risk you have coming your way, mate, is whether or not Tommy or Jason will beat your face in, yeah?" Avalon said. She waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll have our own party when I get back. Sharkie, too."

"Fine. But none of your dweebs."

"You may not like them, but they're not dweebs. Just like you two aren't complete jerks." Avalon turned her attention back to the rangers, who were all staring at her. Her eyes grew wide, shifting back and forth. "What?"

"How can you be friends with them?" Jason asked.

Avalon grinned. "How can you not? They're too goofy not to be."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, can we _please_ prioritize and plan?" Zack asked. "This is probably the only time are parents are actually going to trust us to go somewhere without their supervision. We need to make sure this is the best time we can ever have. And I mean _ever_!" He thought for a moment. "Would you mind if I invited Angela?"

Billy shrugged. "Like I said, first week we can hang out, after that we can have a really big party. Just so long as—"

"Oh, come on, that's not fair!" Zack forced the corners of his mouth down, hoping to appear as pitiful as he could. "Jason and Trini are inseparable." The red and yellow rangers smiled at each other. "Tommy and Kimberly are just disgusting." Kimberly made a show of sticking her nose in the air as Tommy narrowed his eyes. "And you've got that thing going on with Av—"

Billy's face immediately reddened. "—That's not—"

"I have no one to keep me company," Zack continued. "Not unless you want me to hang around you guys all the time. And, you know, this might be romantic and the perfect place to get my swerve on. The mountains, the lake, the sunsets, sunrises…it sounds perfect to me."

"Ooh, to me too," Kimberly agreed. "So romantic." She turned to Tommy, grasping his hand tightly in hers. "We should have a sunset picnic at the lake!"

Zack jerked his thumb over to the white and pink rangers, using his other hand to make the 'crazy' sign next to his head. "You see what I mean?" He murmured. Jason and Trini exchanged glances and snickered quietly while Billy hid his smile.

Though he didn't outright state it, Zack could tell from the subtle upward twitch of Billy's eyebrows that the blur ranger understood exactly what he meant. "You can invite Angela, that's fine," he said. "Everyone come over tonight and we can figure out what we're bringing, who's driving, and everything and then then Sunday morning we can head up there."

"Yes!" Zack cheered, punching the air.

"I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic to take your exam, Zachary," Ms. Appleby teased. Zack smiled sheepishly, lowering his back to his desk. "I hope you do as well as you think. No matter what happens, I'm so very proud of what you guys have managed to accomplish this year." She then looked at the rangers seriously. "But there is something that should be noted that Principal Kaplan wants to make sure I bring up to you."

"Is everything okay?" Trini asked tentatively.

"Yes, we just wanted to bring something to your attention. Now that you all are getting older, there are a lot more pressures that are coming your way. Experimenting with sex, drugs, and drinking. And we understand you have a lot of freedom that you want to explore. But I want to express to you how to be safe. If you ever take a substance or drink, please do it responsibly. You're underage and I'm sure you've heard enough of us adults telling you that you shouldn't drink illegally, but the truth is it is going to happen. And I want nothing more than for you all to be as safe as possible." Ms. Appleby looked around the room, looking each student in the eye.

Some squirmed in their seats, looking away from her while others listened, at rapt attention. Finally, Ms. Appleby let out a shaky sigh and glanced at the papers in her hand. "I'm sorry if my timing of bringing this upsets you or makes it difficult to take your tests, but please know I care about my students." She leveled her gaze on Bulk and Skull, who rolled their eyes and looked away. "All of them." She took a deep breath and said with a markedly brighter tone, "Please do your best and if there is _anything_ that confuses you, let me know and I'll do my best to make things easier."

She stepped up to the front desk in the room, Trini's, and handed her a stack of paper. "Please take one and pass it back."

Trini nodded, took her own test, and handed it to Zack over her shoulder before leaning over to start her own test.

Zack gratefully took the paper and started to write as soon as he glanced over the questions. The only thing that stood between him and the start of an amazing summer vacation was this last exam.

He was going to crush it.

* * *

 **A/N:** And here's the first chapter to _Powerless II._ The ones that are named 'Powerless' and a number directly after it, they're stories that are about the rangers as a group. If they're ones that have an actual title, then they're about a specific ranger. But like _Powerless I_ that was mostly from Trini's POV, this one is mostly from Zack's despite it being about all of the rangers.

I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also, chapter 8 to _The Wounded Hart_ is up as well. Please check it out.

 **~Av**


	2. Chapter 2

**02**

* * *

"So, can I go to the cabin, too? Or am I going to be left out again?"

Billy smiled over at Avalon's little sister, Bailey, as she leaned against the counter in his lab. She stuck out her lower lip sullenly and blinked up at the blue ranger, hoping to sway him. Billy chuckled and dropped the prescription goggles he wore over his eyes, up onto his forehead, making his hair stick up. "Of course the invitation is extended to you," Billy said. "I'm just not sure if you'd have any fun while you're there. There'd be lots of older people there and—"

"—So?" Bailey interrupted. She pushed herself upright and crossed her arms. "I hang out with you lot all the time. _And_ I'm the one who almost single-handedly keeps our zords and weapons going while you're out on the field." Billy gave her a stern look, making her blush and lower her gaze. "I said _almost,_ " she murmured, not wanting to take away from Billy's technical advisor status while simultaneously being a ranger.

Billy then smiled once more. Credit where credit was do, Bailey really did help him out when he was in the lab, she looked at the problems with their zords and weapons from another POV. A more childlike and innocent view that he wouldn't have been able to see from time to time. Her smarts nearly rivaled his, but she certainly had a somewhat naive view of the world that Billy still wished he had. He remembered first learning different concepts within science and technology and hoping that the world would react the same way.

How quickly he had been disheartened when he was bullied and verbally beaten down with his interests. Bailey's confidence was much stronger than his had been when he was that age and it was something he hoped would never be taken away.

"We'd love to have you around, Bay, we always do," Billy reassured her. "I'm just looking out for your well-being."

"I thought that was my job, mate," Avalon announced her presence, walking into the lab. She hopped up onto a stool next to Billy and glanced at him. Her eyebrows twitched as she gave him a once over before smiling. "You should style our hair like that more often, Smurf, it looks really good, yeah?"

"Yeah," Bailey agreed. She smiled, resting her chin in her hands. "I think it looks great."

Billy felt his face flush completely. He cleared his throat and almost self-consciously lowered his goggles around his neck. "Don't start," he said to Bailey. She lifted an inquisitive eyebrow and he said, "I can easily ascertain that you're trying to flatter me to put you in the good graces to come along on our trip and—"

"—That's not happening," Avalon interrupted Billy to point at her little sister, who pouted even further. "You don't want to go to that kind of party, Bay." Then she looked at Billy and added, almost as an afterthought, "And she doesn't need to flatter you about your hairstyle, it really does look good, mate."

Billy felt his face flush even further, if it were possible. Had he had been wearing his goggles or even an older pair of his glasses, he was sure they would've fogged up. As it was, he tried to pull at the color of his shirt, unsure of how to respond. Internally, he turned back into the nerdy science boy, losing all the confidence he'd learned over the past few years. Coughing, Billy dropped his hands to his lap and mumbled a "Thank you."

"Anyway, I came in here to tell you that the others are waiting in the living room to figure out about our trip," Avalon explained. If she had any idea of how uncomfortable she was making him, even in a good way, she didn't let it show. "And your dad said he'd stay out of the way."

Billy nodded. Ever since his mother's death, his father tended to keep things to himself. Often it felt that Billy lost his father the same day. The warm, inviting man had turned into a shell of his former self, working long into the night on his lesson plans for his college classes. Billy hardly remembered the last time he'd left the house to meet up with anyone other than his students or colleagues. _Everyone works through grief at their own pace,_ Billy reminded himself.

"Alright, let me just finish setting this up," Billy said. He turned his attention back to the beakers set up in front of him and put a few droplets of different solutions in each beaker before taking off his gloves with a loud snap. "Okay, come on."

"There's nothing else you need to do?" Avalon asked, looking over it in wonder. Science and technology weren't her forte. There were many things that had to be explained to her multiple times, much like with the other rangers when Trini wasn't around to translate, but Billy's patience ran steady. When Bailey wasn't around to help him out in the lab or in the Command Center, Avalon was the first one to lend a helping hand.

Though, if he were being honest, Billy wasn't sure if it was that she truly wanted to help or if it were because she was avoiding going somewhere and doing something with the Vipers. All he knew was that with the speed at which she agreed to go on the trip and how excited she looked at the prospect, she was excited to get out of Angel Grove for a little while and relax.

"No, this solution will take time to work itself out," Billy explained as he stood up. He tossed his goggles aside, carefully making sure they landed on the side of the working desk, far enough away from the beakers so not to disturb them. "Plenty of time to have things worked out for the party." He led the way out of the garage and went to the living room, where Zack was pacing back and forth, hands locked behind his back.

Jason, Trini, Tommy, and Kimberly sat on the floor, leaning against the couch with the boys' arms around their girlfriends' shoulders, watching the black ranger pace. When the blue, orange, and purple rangers appeared, Zack stopped walking and threw his hands into the air. "Finally!" Zack cried. He tapped his fingers across his communicator. "Do you know how long we've been waiting?"

"What?" The rangers heard Alpha's squeaky voice say in response. "Is that you, Zack?"

"Not now, Alpha," Zack replied, and sheepishly removed his hands from his communicator. Then he turned his attention back to Billy, placing his hands on his hips. "Well?"

Avalon was the first to speak. She raised her hand, stepping into the living room to lay out on the couch. "Relax, mate, it's only been a few minutes," she reassured him.

"A few minutes are a lifetime when you're planning a major ranger," Zack insisted. He placed his hand on his chest and grinned. "Luckily, you're in the presence of royalty and I know everything about throwing a party and having a good time. And a good time always starts out with some rocking tunes. It sets things out on a high note." He turned to his backpack and pulled out a notebook that should've been used to take notes in class judging by the word 'History' written on the front.

But Billy had sat next to Zack in class for years and knew the way Zack's mind worked. Sitting in class and taking notes was not the best way he studied. He was an auditory learner and remembered most things just by it being said to him over and over. Taking notes merely slowly him down, or was a good distraction if things managed to go off course. How many times had Billy seen Zack write down some attack formations against putties in class that ended up helping them later? Enough times that he'd stopped giving Zack a disapproving glance when he saw he wasn't taking any notes.

"So, I've already got a list of tunes to play on our drive up, but I'm taking requests for the kind of music to play when we're throwing the party," Zack said. He uncapped his pen and started to write. "Have to have a lot of the upbeat stuff to keep people going."

"How about something slow and romantic?" Kimberly asked. "To break up all of the fast-paced music. Something like Richard Marx?"

"Who actually listens to Richard Max?" Bailey asked, her nose wrinkling.

"I do!" Kimberly defended herself. She clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. "I'd love to go see him in concert one day. His voice is so amazing."

"And very likely to put you to sleep," Zack commented.

Jason quickly came to the pink ranger's defense. "Think of it like this, Zack. You put on a couple of slow tunes and you and Angela can get some slow dancing in." He grinned, clapping his best friend on the shoulder. "Some time to get to know here better. You can impress her with those moves as well as your fast ones."

Zack thought for a moment, tapping his pen against his chin before he lowered his head and started to write once more. "I guess we can do Richard Marx," he mumbled. Billy smiled and shook his head. Zack couldn't fool him, as soon as Angela was mentioned, anything Zack was against was something he was very excited for. She could probably talk him into sticking his hand into a nest of spiders if she ever wanted him to. Angela always had that spell over him, much stronger than anything that Rita and Zedd could come up with.

"What about some of that new Latin stuff that's come out?" Trini asked. "To put in some international flair to the list?"

"Can we do Pearl Jam, too?" Avalon asked.

"You can't dance to Pearl Jam," Tommy pointed out.

Avalon looked offended. "Who said anything about dancing? It's just another option instead of all of that slow crap, yeah?" She crossed her knees and sat up straight. "If we can't play it at the party, then I'd at least like to listen to it on the drive up."

"Who's driving, anyway?" Bailey asked innocently. She mimicked her sister's stance by sitting cross-legged, but quietly pulled at the laces on her shoes. "You can't fit everyone in your truck, Billy."

"And I don't trust Kim with her convertible around mountain roads," Avalon added. She rested her chin in her hand, smirking. "Though I think it would blend in with all of the others."

Kimberly pouted, folding her arms over her chest. She made a show of sticking her nose in the air. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to drive a car that you enjoy."

"There is when it sticks out like a sore thumb and is better equipped with shopping bags than the mountain terrain, yeah?" Avalon screamed with laughter when Kimberly bounced up off the floor and leaned over her friend to attack her with pillows she grabbed off the couch.

"Don't worry about driving," Tommy reassured Bailey. "We've got Billy's truck to take a lot of the supplies then I'll follow him in my mom's car with everyone else. We'll have to stop at the grocery store along the way, but it'll be better to get it right when we get there."

Billy nodded in agreement. "There's a grocery store near the base of the mountain and we can get things from there. I'm more afraid of the perishables we get earlier wouldn't make it there. And Ava is right, the terrain on the way up the mountain can be treacherous at this time of year. I wouldn't like to be driving it when it's too late. The roads narrow out and the turns are hard to see in the dark. Unless you're used to it, you won't know what to do. So, I don't mind doing the bulk of the driving."

Jason lifted a finger. "You said there's some skiing and snowboarding up there right?"

"At this time of year?" Bailey asked, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes shifted back and forth. "Isn't the weather too warm for it?"

"It is, but they generate more snow up there," Billy explained. "At the ski resort they use fake snow as much as they use real snow when the climate works for them. At this time of year, they tend to use more of the fake snow, but the higher altitude should provide sufficient weather for us to get some skiing done while we're up there." He looked over the wary expressions on each of his friends' faces. "We _do_ have a week," he reminded them. "Plenty of time to go hiking, fishing and swimming."

"Alright!" Zack punched the air like he had done in class. "This is all really coming together. The rest of the things we need to figure out are the kinds of games we're bringing. Card games, board games, things to entertain us."

"I don't think that will be a problem," James said with a knowing grin, making Tommy laugh and Kimberly and Trini to both roll their eyes. Trini went so far as to elbow the red ranger in the ribs, making him wrap his arms around his wait to fend any of her next attacks off. "What? I'm just saying there's a chance there's going to be some monster attacks or something."

Billy smirked. Jason was so lying. He tried to keep an innocent expression on his face, but Billy had known the red ranger—and the rest of his friends—long enough to know when there were hidden meanings in their words. How many times did Kimberly and Tommy think that Kim's 'going to check on something' and Tommy's 'going to check on Kim' wasn't a code that they were going to spend some time making out? Or that the sly looks that Jason would send Trini over the table when they were studying or at Ernie's wasn't some sort of a code

"Yeah, that's exactly what you meant," Bailey teased as the rest of the rangers broke out into laughter. Then she frowned. "But he's right, there's always the risk of monster attacks coming up. I don't remember the last time that Rita and Zedd gave us some time off."

"All the more to be diligent in our practices while we're gone," Billy agreed. "Continuing to spar, work out, get as much training in as possible—"

"You really don't know how to have fun do you?" Zack and Avalon asked in unison. Billy smiled and shook his head. He didn't take it personally, he was the one that typically made sure every possibility was thought of, every outcome avoided if needed.

 _Maybe you do need to relax a little,_ Billy thought. _If anything goes on, it's not like we can't teleport back in a few seconds. Zordon and Alpha will let us know if there's anything that needs our attention and for a while we'll be on our own. It's not like we have to worry too much about anyone else being there._ Billy slowly felt himself starting to relax.

Besides, what could go wrong?

* * *

Zack whistled to himself as he walked back to his house. He and his friends had figured out who was going to be driving when, what they were all going to bring, and what sort of things they'd do once they got to the snow cabin. And he couldn't do anything but grin as he went.

His tests were done, his grades would be in soon, and he was going to have the best-looking girl in school on his arm for the party. He could hardly believe she said 'yes' when he asked her to go with him. Feeling good about Ms. Appleby's test, Zack practically skipped out of the classroom and headed to the senior wing to find Angela.

He found her at her locker, looking fine in her cheerleading uniform, and sauntered over with the utmost confidence he could muster. The moment she turned to face him, noticing him coming, Zack felt a bit of his confidence peter out. _Why_ did she have to look so good?

 _Relax, you've gone out with her a few times already, don't worry about it._ He took a deep breath and flashed on his best smile. "Hey, Angela, how's it going?"

"Everything's going fine, Zack," Angela replied with a warm smile. She clasped her books to her chest and smiled back at him. "How're you? How'd your last exams go?"

"Fine, fine," Zack said quickly. He cleared his throat and lifted his arm, resting it against the bay of lockers, using it to hold himself up as he crossed his legs. "Pretty great, actually. I think I'm going to get some good grades. And get this, I've got the hookup for a pretty good party coming up soon."

Angela's eyes widened in excitement. So much so that her entire face lit up, making Zack's smile widen. Nothing was a better sign than a girl completely lighting up. "Really? What sort of party?"

"A party my friends and I are throwing," Zack explained. He licked his lips and leaned toward her, lowering his voice. "But it's very hush-hush. On the down low, not many people know about it yet." He pressed his finger to his lips to drive the point home. "But you're special, so I'm telling you about it first."

Angela giggled. She reached out and grabbed onto Zack's arm. "Don't leave me in suspense, what's going on?"

"Well, my friends and I are going to be hanging out at Billy's parent's chalet for a week. Up in the mountains. And they said that I can invite anyone I want. But, there's going to be a major party at the end. A total blowout. We're going to start inviting everyone over soon, but I wanted you to be the first to know." He grabbed her hand, gently swinging it back and forth between them. "So, what do you say? Would you be my date?"

Angela's smile widened. She stood up straight, leaning into Zack's side. "Well, that depends," She said slowly. "What are we going to be doing? I mean, you said we have the whole week, right?"

"We can do whatever you want," Zack said quickly. He had no idea what she'd be interested in, but he wasn't going to question it. There was no way he was going to mess this up. He was a good guy but had moments of being a bad boy every now and then. He needed to keep up with her mystery somehow. "Just say the word."

With a light laugh, Angela took a step back from Zack and placed finished putting her books away. She looked through the books inside and started to painstakingly exchange them with the ones in her cross-body bag. Zack waited patiently, his resolve slowly breaking as the seconds passed.

"Well, okay," Angela finally replied. She closed her locker behind her and leaned against it, grinning at Zack. "It sounds like fun. But, I'm going to bring my own party favors, okay? Because I want to make sure we have some fun." She leaned in and gave Zack a peck on the lips. He felt his heart exploding like a bright firework. "You're cute, Zack, but sometimes you need to live a little."

With that, Angela walked away with an extra swish in her hips that made Zack collapse back against the lockers, watching her go. Now everything had been planned out. There wasn't anything he and his friends hadn't figured out to the smallest detail. They were going to have a great time.

"Hey mom," Zack greeted as he headed into his house via the door that lead to the kitchen. He went to his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hey, pop!" He patted his father on the shoulder, who grinned, turning away from his newspaper, looking at his watch.

"Zachary Taylor in time for dinner, never thought I'd see the day," Mr. Taylor teased. "Normally we can't drag you away from your friends."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but I've got some packing I need to do," Zack said. He leaned over his mother's shoulder to look at what she was preparing—homemade pulled pork and fries. Yes. "But I will definitely be down for dinner when you call."

"Oh, but sweetie, do you need to pack now?" Mrs. Taylor asked, frowning at her son. She gestured towards her husband with a pair of tongs before resting her hand on her hip. "There's something your father and I wanted to talk to you about. We know you're excited to go on your trip but—"

"More than excited, mom," Zack interrupted. He backed towards the stairs, knowing if he got caught he would never hear the end of it. His mother would speak a lecture when she got into 'wanting to talk' to him about something. "That's why I need to go pack."

"Son, this is very important," Mr. Taylor insisted. He put his newspaper down and Zack paused. His father always meant business if he could be torn away from his daily reading of he newspaper. Zack always told him that the internet was a thing, but there he was everyone morning, flipping through the sports section to start. "We know that there's not going to be any supervision and us parents have talked and believe we can trust you all without anyone being there."

"And we'll call you if there's an emergency," Zack insisted. He continued to take small steps backward. His father's steely gaze on him made him pause then walk further into the kitchen. "Pop, I know what you're going to say. 'Make good choices', 'Don't get way in over your head'…'Be smart'…"

"You're getting older now and there are more important things to speak about," Mr. Taylor insisted. "Like experimenting. Sex and drugs and—"

"—We already got this from Ms. Appleby, pop," Zack interrupted. "We know how to be careful and everything." He held up his hands. "And besides, I think you're a bit late on the sex-talk, we did have Sex-Ed in school." He hurried from the room, calling over his shoulder. "Call me when dinner's ready, we can talk then!"

Everything was going to be perfect.

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally! I've been trying to have this updated for a week! I'm so sorry with the wait on it, but I'm sure all you guys have problems with the document manager as well recently. Thank you all for being so patient. Chapters will get longer after this one, just like they increased with _Powerless I, I'm Home, and The Wounded Hart._

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

 **~Av**


	3. Chapter 3

**03**

* * *

 _Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want_

 _I don't want no scrub; a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me. Hangin' out the passenger side of his best friend's ride, trying to holla at me._

 _Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me. And after all, you're my wonderwall._

"Zack, will you _please_ stop messing with the radio station and pick something?" Jason's irritated voice came from the backseat of Tommy's truck.

Zack rolled his eyes and decided to stick it on a rap station, knowing he was the only one who truly did enjoy it. Just to smite Jason of course. He clearly didn't know anything about having a good road trip meant there needed to be some good music to set the tone of the trip. With a smile, Zack turned the music up as loud as it would go, seconds before Tommy reached out and turned it back down.

"I need to concentrate on the road," Tommy said, when he noticed Zack's appalled glance.

Pursing his lips, Zack said, "Then it's a good thing I called shotgun when I had the chance." Now Kimberly, who had her nose buried in a magazine, sitting next to Jason, reached out her foot—which thankfully was bare as she decided to take off her heels—and kicked him on the arm. "Ow!"

"I should've gone with Billy, Trini, and Av," Jason remarked. "You guys are too lively for me."

"Too lively for a road trip?"

"It's making me nervous! I don't want to get into an accident."

"Hey, I've never gotten in an accident as long as I've had my license," Tommy defended himself. To prove his point, he took a quick glance in all the mirrors before tightening his grasp on the steering wheel. His lips pulled up in a smirk, making Zack roll his eyes.

"Oh my God, you guys suck the fun out of everything!" Zack declared, throwing his hands in the air. He slouched low in the passenger seat, crossing his leg at the knee. Smacking his knee into the handle of the glove compartment. He'd extend the seat further but Jason had insisted he sit behind Zack not wanting to be behind Tommy. (He explained to the black ranger it was because he didn't want to accidentally see any of the 'looks' that Tommy and Kim would exchange in the rearview mirror).

They'd already gotten enough of how much Kimberly gushed over how 'romantic' and 'exciting' everything was going to be when they were just packing up the cars early that morning. Okay, so Zack was a little irritated about it. But who wouldn't be at the butt crack of dawn? What surprised him was that Avalon, who seemed to almost have a perma-scowl, was the one who was very chipper about the whole thing. She bounced out of the Cranston house with a steaming mug of tea clasped in her hand, smiling warmly.

"You lot ready to go?" She asked with a bright smile, free hand shoved into the front pocket of the blue sweatshirt she was warning.

Zack lifted an eyebrow as he glanced at her. He made a show of rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Who are you and what have you done with Av?"

Her smile widened. "I'm always in a good mood once I've had my cuppa," she pointed out.

"So what makes you so irritable all the other times?" Bailey asked, grinning cheekily as she followed her sister out of the house, holding onto a large duffle bag under her arm.

"People are annoying."

Zack laughed and pointed at Avalon, showing his solidarity with her statement, while she made a show of lifting her mug to take another large cup of tea. He also couldn't help but notice but the orange ranger seemed to make sure she wasn't the one who actually loaded the cars with everything that was needed. Zack did the same. Not because he was lazy, but because he was careful to handle a delicate situation.

A situation to make sure that Angela really was coming on the trip. She'd hemmed and hawed about it all night, wondering what the point of it would truly be. And it kept Zack on the line. How many times had he looked at his phone while the rangers trooped back and forth to put everything in the trunks of the cars? Enough he was starting to get whiplash from looking every time it even made a slight sound.

Now he sat in the passenger seat of the truck continuing to look at his phone. The moment he laid eyes on it, it lit up with a text.

 **Angela:** I've got my stuff, I'll meet you guys up there.

 **Zack:** And you can't give me a little hint?

 **Angela:** No! I want it to be a surprise!

 **Zack:** Please?

 **Angela:** No. You're cute, but no. I'm not telling you until we're there.

 **Zack:** Ugh. Fine. But at least you said I'm cute. XD

 **Angela:** I always thought you were.

Zack couldn't help the smile that came to his face as he read the text. Read it, read it, and re-read it. How many times could he read it before he stopped grinning? He probably never would. This was going to be _awesome!_ He was smiling so much he hadn't noticed Kimberly leaning over his shoulder, reading his texts until she popped the gum she'd been chewing in his ear. Zack jumped so hard, letting out a startled yelp that made Tommy jump, pulling on the steering wheel.

A loud car horn blared through the air as Tommy quickly corrected himself. Jason shot his hands out and grasped the arm rest and seatbelt that held him in place at the same time. "Can we get there in one piece?" He asked.

"It wasn't _my_ fault, it was Zack's!" Tommy practically screeched, heart hammering in his throat from the sudden noise.

Holding his hands up defensively, Zack said, "Don't blame me, man, blame your girlfriend. She's the one who's trying to kamikaze us into a straight shot at death." He gestured towards Billy's truck in front of them, steadily chugging along at just above the speed limit. "And apparently trying to take all of us with her. We're completely innocent, you know, but this one?" He reached back and tweaked the tip of Kimberly's nose. "This one is devious."

"Oh please!" Kimberly shoved Zack hard on the arm then plucked his cell phone from his hands. She leaned back in her seat and scrolled through the text messages. Her eyes lit up and a squeal escaped her lips. "Oooh, Zack, looks like things are getting serious with you and Angela!"

"As serious as what?" Jason smirked. He slowly relaxed his grip on the armrest and seat belt. "As drooling after her in the halls? Or watching her from afar? Of trying to use your ranger powers to get her attention? From what I've heard, she does seem to have a thing about the black ranger."

Reaching up, Zack grabbed the visor that sat above his seat and flipped it open. He angled the mirror sitting inside to focus on Jason and narrowed his eyes into a glare. Jason's lips pulled into a smirk. One so imperceptible that not even Kimberly who—ironically—was finely tuned in all matters of the heart, didn't notice. Of course Jason was just busting his balls. He was the only one Zack truly talked to with his feelings for Angela and what their relationship was really like. It was embarrassing and…Zack really needed Jason's level head to figure things out.

Not to mention, Billy blushed like crazy when the topic of sex came up and Tommy always seemed to be a little smug about it. He needed someone who could handle it. Jason had bene his best bud for years, he'd been the one who—admittedly—Zack had corrupted a bit early, sharing his father's magazines he'd found in the back of his parent's closet while playing hide and seek. He was the one who Zack worked to get over his embarrassment to try dancing as well, though the two did quickly snap back to their 'cool attention' whenever a girl did go walking by.

If there was anyone who could keep his secret insecurities it was Jason. No matter how much he'd teased him and threatened to tell when the time came. (Or when Zack got out of hand with his antics, it'd get him to settle down _reaaaal_ quick).

"Well, we all know the black ranger is the best ranger, anyway," Zack said, then stuck out his tongue as he started to laugh.

"I don't know." Tommy shook his head, ponytail swinging. "I've heard the white ranger is pretty good. And he _is_ the leader, you know."

"That doesn't mean anything, he stole that role from the red ranger," Jason pointed out. His smirk widened, making Kimberly then shove him on the arm. Instead of verbally responding to him, she said to Zack, "I'm being serious, it looks like Angela's really turning around on you."

"I hope so," Zack agreed. He flipped up the visor and ran his hands over his face. "This girl has been on my mind for years now. I need this to happen." He shifted to the side and turned his attention to the scenery they passed. It was beautiful. They were really climbing up into the mountains. The clouds hung lower the higher they drove, he could see more pine trees sticking out over the mountain range than he'd ever seen down in Angel Grove. Angel Grove was nothing short of Palm Trees and oak trees.

This was different.

It was a different world. He could already feel his stresses melt away from him. No Rita. No Zedd. No monsters. Nothing. Just a good time. With the best friends he could ever imagine. Sucking in a deep breath, Zack turned back and looked Kimberly in the eye to say, "You have any advice? You guys are on the cheerleading squad. You listen to each other and…braid each other's hair and stuff."

Kimberly snorted. "When was the last time you ever saw me braid my hair?"

"When you thought you were going through a 'hood' phase," Zack pointed out. Kimberly's cheeks bloomed with color while Jason burst out laughing. Tommy's eyebrows rose in surprise, looking at his girlfriend in the rearview mirror. "You should've seen it, Tom. She really got into some of the rap and R&B I was listening to and thought she could hang with that lifestyle. Picture little Kimmie in one of those big jackets and hair pulled back into braids. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen."

"It didn't last too long," Jason added.

"Right, she was back to our perky, bubblegum pink lady that we know and love within a weekend."

Kimberly huffed, sticking her nose in the air. "I was just…experimenting, okay? Going through a phase. Everyone does. I seem to remember a time where _you_ were into country music." Then she switched her target to Jason. "And _you_ were so much of the goody-goody."

"He's not _that_ good," Zack pointed out.

Jason smiled. "Not since I met you."

"And your life has only been better since then." Zack reached his hand back and Jason slapped his palm against it, making the two laugh, Tommy joining in a few moments later. Then Zack heaved a heavy sigh and settled into his seat. Nerves rumbled through his stomach when he saw Billy flip on the blinker and pulled off the highway with Tommy following right behind him. Glancing at the printed directions that lay across Zack's lap—he'd been stuck as the navigator—Zack knew they were very close. Only a few more minutes of driving.

Only a few more minutes until they would have a bomb ass time. Zack rubbed his hands together, then wiped them on the legs of his jeans when he realized how clammy they were. _Get it together, man,_ he scolded himself. Kimberly seemed to have read his mind as she handed his phone back. Then she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," she said quietly. "If Angela doesn't like you for you, then you don't deserve her. You deserve everything and more, Zack."

Zack smiled. He brought up his hand and placed it on hers. Then he curled his fingers around her hand and squeezed gently. "Thank you, my dear." He said it with a funny accent to his voice but meant every word he said. He knew she knew that. Kimberly squeezed his shoulder before removing her hand. Then she gasped loudly—a gasp that made them all jump again pressed her face against the window.

"Oh my gosh! We're here! We're _here!_ Oh, it looks so beautiful!"

Zack looked up at the chalet, his lower jaw dropping. Beautiful wasn't the word. It was something he couldn't even describe. He had so many words for everything and it was the only time he couldn't figure out what would be the one to adequately convey it. Shocking. That had to be it. He could only imagine his parents having enough money to get a place like that. _Yeah, in a million years,_ he thought. Then his eyes shifted as Billy pulled wide around another car that was already parked in front of the chalet.

A Volkswagen Beetle with Angela leaning against the trunk, face buried in her phone. She looked up, pushing her hair back from her face when the other cars pulled up and grinned the grin that made Zack simultaneously grow weak and feel emboldened at the same time. He hardly waited for the car to come to a stop before flinging open the passenger door and jumped out. Angela waved, putting down her phone as he approached.

"How'd you beat us up here?" He asked. "We left before you." She had made special mention she needed to stop for something before she left. Hence why they hadn't driven together.

Angela's grin widened. "You're too slow," she teased. "The roads were practically empty, you know going a little past the speed limit isn't going to kill anyone." She waved to the rest of the rangers, making them slowly wave back. She'd never paid them too much attention before. Maybe being away from the school cut down those social boundaries they had.

 _I can only hope,_ Zack thought. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, surprised when she loosely hugged him back. "So, where am I sleeping?" She asked, turning her attention to the other rangers. "I know it's your place, William, so I guess I should be directing the question to you."

Whether it was that he was surprised to be called by his full name—or irritated by Avalon's and Trini's snickering at it being mentioned—Billy blinked for a second and looked around, being sure if he was being addressed. When he found he was, he cleared his throat and said, "I guess we don't have to worry about unpacking now. We've already arrived early enough so that we can put off getting groceries as well." He gestured towards the chalet. "I'll give you the tour."

The moment Billy opened the door for everyone, they squeezed by him and barged into the house to find the rooms. Bailey started to run and turned back to Avalon. "Av? You coming? Or are you and Billy going to share a room?"

"Good question." The orange ranger turned back to the blue ranger, who suddenly looked like he swallowed a bitter pill. " _Are_ we sharing a room?"

"Uh…"

Zack noticed Billy's gaze shift to him, silently asking for help, but ducked his head and continued towards the rooms. He would help him out a little if Angela wasn't already beckoning him towards a room with a curl of her finger. And Zack _really_ couldn't resist that. He entered the room and closed the door behind them. It was probably going to be the only privacy they got that week and he'd take full advantage of it.

"So?" Zack asked as soon as they were alone. He rubbed his hands together, moving closer to Angela, who grinned at him as she stood in front of the bed, tilting her head to bat her eyelashes at him. "What'd you get?"

"Mm?" Angela lifted her head to look at him clearly. Her eyes flickered with mischief, holding her hands behind her back. "What do you mean?"

"You said you were going to bring some sort of your own party favors," Zack reminded her.

"Did I say that?"

"Yes, you did." Zack continued to advance towards her. She didn't move away. That was a good sign. A _very_ good sign. Instead, she continued to giggle as he moved closer and closer. Soon her was standing right in front of her, with nowhere left to go. Zack lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers. His eyes flickered over hers. The mischievous shine continued in her eyes. Those same eyes he worked hard to lock onto as the days passed. "What? Is it a secret?"

"Can you keep a secret, Zack?" Angela's whisper brushed over his lips, making him shudder in delight. "For me?"

Oh boy, was she asking the right person. Could he keep a secret? He could only keep the biggest secret of his life with little effort. Being a ranger. He had no need to go blabbing that around, didn't ever want to lose his abilities to help save people daily. If he could keep something _that_ big quiet, then this was nothing. "Yeah, I can keep a secret," Zack replied. "Come on. What is it?"

Angela continued to giggle. Continued to sway her head, watching Zack watch her. Finally, she removed her hand from behind her back. For a moment, Zack wasn't sure what he was looking at. Honestly, he thought it was a bottle of root beer. But as Angela continued to sway, looping an arm around Zack's shoulders to pull him closer, he got a good whiff of what it really was.

Beer.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hmm, looking over the last chapter, I realized I really need to work on my transitions of something that happened to the past (in a pseudo-flashback) as things are simultaneously are still in the present. Anywho, I'm so sorry for the wait and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story. I'm really enjoying writing Zack. It's funny, I love writing Power Rangers in general, but it becomes super fun when I'm working on one ranger specifically. Especially with their differing personalities.

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

 **~Av**


	4. Chapter 4

**04**

* * *

"That side of the closet has been situated for you, and this drawer, and I can arrange an ample amount of space in the cabinet in the bathroom," Billy murmured. He ran a hand through his hair, moving so fast across the bedroom that he may as well as teleported as he did so. He barely cast Avalon a glance each time he passed her.

She patiently stood aside, one hand holding the straps of her overnight bag, the other holding her arm. She watched Billy watched an amused expression, tilted her head so her hair fell from her face. She wanted to see him clearly, doing her best to hold in her laughter.

And yet, Billy continued to talk, mostly to himself, as he went, making sure everything in their room was split 50/50. He cracked his fingers, ran a hand through his hair, drummed his fingers on his arms, and slid his hands into his pockets. Not in that order and within seconds of each other.

"And, uh,"—Billy cleared his throat, swallowed thickly. "As for the bed, I don't know what side is more preferential for you to sleep on but—"

"Okay, this stopped being fun," Avalon announced.

Taken aback, Billy's head jerked backwards. He blinked rapidly, eyebrows coming together. "Excuse me?"

Avalon chuckled, dropping her bag to the ground. "I mean, Billy, you've managed to go through a few years without using your techno speak, which is ace, yeah? But…" she sucked her lips into her mouth and smiled teasingly at him. "You tend to go back to it when you're nervous." Billy's rapid blinking declined in tempo, but he continued to look at her cluelessly. Avalon's smile widened. "And you basically haven't stopped talking for the past ten minutes, mate."

"Well, we, uh—"

"Live in the same house," Avalon pointed out. "And have been for a while now. The only difference now is that we're in the same room. I don't have a problem with it if you don't." She paused. "Besides, Bay's always been complaining about not having her own room since we moved to Angel Grove, I figured I'd give her the chance." She examined Billy. "Unless you don't think it's a good idea."

"I didn't say that," he said quickly.

"I know. I'm just giving you a hard time." Avalon motioned to her bag with her foot. "I don't need closet space, I can live out a bag. As a matter of fact, I don't have a lot of stuff in general. The perks of having moved and leaving all your stuff behind, I reckon." She nodded towards the bathroom. "Same thing with the bathroom, I don't need a lot of space there. I have everything I need in my bag." She then nodded towards the bed. "As for the bed, I sleep in a ball and you stay up almost all hours of the night, I don't think it'll be a problem."

Billy nodded. He lowered his chin, a flush coming to his cheeks. "Then I don't think it'll be a problem either."

"Good." Avalon walked to Billy and threw her arms around his neck, prompting Billy to wrap his around her waist. He smiled down at her. "Because I have the feeling that we're not going to get a lot of time together by ourselves. I think I already heard Kim say something about wanting to a plan a day trip into the city?"

Billy made a face. "I assumed our trip up here was to stay _out_ of the city."

"Shopping."

"Ah."

"Yeah." Avalon smiled up at Billy then stood on her tiptoes, tilting her head so that her nose brushed against his.

Billy got the hint and met her halfway, pressing his lips against hers. Avalon grinned then kissed him again, tightened her grasp around his neck. Aggressive, possessive, the way she'd always been, the way he always liked her to be. Billy, in comparison, gently grasped her waist, eased his mouth over hers. That was the Billy Avalon liked, where he didn't worry so much about everything. Where he wasn't so preoccupied with an experiment or technological advance that'd plague him for days.

If there was anyone who needed the week off as much as anyone else, it was him. And she was glad to be the one to help him relax sometimes. Billy's mouth descended on hers, the muscles on his body loosening as the seconds passed. Gently, he took a step forward, prompting Avalon to take one backwards.

Step. Step. Step.

Until she was lying on the bed with Billy lying on top of her, trading sweet kisses and sighs back and forth between their mouths. Avalon brought her hands up to frame Billy's face, angling her head to work her tongue into his mouth, then froze, hearing something. Billy pulled back, his eyes flickering upwards. The two listened, locking in on the sound of a rhythmic thumping and muffled moans.

Avalon's eyes narrowed before she rolled her eyes. "Please tell me that Tommy and Kim don't have the room next to ours."

Billy did his best to hide his smile. To think he was worried about figuring out where the two of them were going to sleep. "I won't tell you," he said. He sat back, taking Avalon's hands so that she sat up as well. "How do you feel about going for a walk?"

"If we can get through it without a monster popping up, Smurf, I'll willingly sit still the next time you need a test subject for whatever crazy experiment you have." She lifted a finger. "With minimum snark."

"I don't think you can go through a simple conversation without snark, Ava," Billy pointed out. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Come on, there's a trail nearby. If we start now we can be back by…" he nodded towards the wall. "The time they're done."

"You truly know the way to my heart, Smurf," Avalon teased. She climbed off the bed and grabbed his hand. "Let's go." The two left their room, bumping into Jason and Trini stretching in the hallway, already dressed in workout clothes. "I see you two are seconds away from heading for the hills."

"Please," Zack said, popping his head around the corner. "You know those two can't stand the thought of missing even one workout. Do you remember what happened for my birthday? When we had all that cake and the next thing you know, they somehow managed to convince all of us to go to the gym to do a high intensity workout."

"Wasn't that when you threw up all over me?" Jason asked, hands on his hips as he continued to bend back and forth.

"Yep, that's it," Zack agreed, snapping his fingers. "I knew somehow I'd get back at you, I just didn't know it would've come that fast."

"I did," Trini remarked. "Once I saw how fast your face was turning green." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "Do you want to come with us? We were going to go running up the trail at the back of the house."

"We were about to go hiking yourselves," Billy agreed, motioning between himself and Avalon. Then he looked to Zack. "Do you and Angela want to come with us?"

"So long as I don't have to listen to _that_ ," Zack pointed towards the closed door to Tommy's and Kimberly's room. "I'll do anything."

"Let me just get Bay. I'm sure there's some rocks she can climb up there." Avalon said. She leaned towards the bedroom door then smirked, leaning back once more. "And it'll be symbolic, yeah. She'll be climbing rocks, Tommy's getting his off—"

At that, Zack reached out and knocked on the closed door and sprinted after Avalon as she ran away, leaving Billy, Jason, and Trini to laugh.

* * *

The rangers' week at the cabin was soon ending. The weekend came faster than any of them anticipated, they were having too much fun. A week away from school, homework, and ranger duties was certainly something they needed.

Days filled with trips to the lake; sunbathing, playing volleyball, tubing, swimming, and going out on the boat Billy's family owned, trips into town; shopping for the girls, working out at the gym for the guys, finding restaurants to eat at every day—other than the food they bought to eat at the cabin.

Even Billy, who Zack teased for being so tightly wound, put aside his studies and experiments for the week. Zack already was looking forward to the week and he couldn't let the festivities end. Not yet. There was always something to do and if they were going to go out with a bang then it had to be a big one.

Zack brought it up to his friends at breakfast that morning. "We already told everyone at school we're going to have a party, so let's have one."

''I don't know," Kimberly said slowly.

"You were into it when we were at school."

"Yeah, when we were _at school,"_ Kimberly reminded him. She hugged her bowl of cereal to her chest, spinning her spoon around her fingers. "It's different. We were talking around our exams and were desperate to have some fun. We've been having a lot of fun up here."

"What are we talking about?" Angela asked, sashaying into the kitchen. She dropped next to Zack and pulled out her cell phone to look through it. "I heard something about having fun and if there's anything I know of, it's how to have fun."

Normally the comment would've made Zack smile. He would've believed it. Had he not known that what made her 'fun' was how much she drank. And he found over the last week that she drank a lot. Nearly every day. A beer at night and more likely another one the next morning. Boy, Zack realized, was she used to it. She drank a bottle and was perfectly fine, of which would've made one of the rest of them drunk out of their minds.

Zack knew how that felt, anyway. One night, when the rest of the rangers had already gone to bed, Angela convinced him to try drinking. He'd agreed to it, wanting to at least see what all the fuss was about. The first time, he'd ended up with such a hangover it wasn't funny. He hadn't eaten anything along with it, hadn't done anything but tip his head back and take Angela's encouragement and support to finish the rest. Boy did he had a headache the next day. Cotton mouth, throwing up, all of it. And yet, Angela continued to encourage him to join her whenever she was looking to have a good time.

"Let's be honest, Zack," Angela said one night, her words slurring together. "Your friends are total squares. They don't know how to have a good time."

Zack defended them. At least he thought he did. The details were a little fuzzy. They usually came back at some point, but he couldn't quite remember. "We were just talking about whether we were going to have a party," he explained. "Last few days."

"We totally have to!" Angela declared, her head snapping up. "This place is perfect for it. It'll be a blast. And besides, you already told Bulk and Skull you were going to have one."

"She has a point," Avalon agreed. She rested her chin in her hands. "And, problem is, once Bulk and Skull get something in their minds, it's hard to get it out."

"That's because there's nothing left in their heads to block those ideas," Trini said, making Kimberly laugh and try to hide it by covering her mouth."

"Bulk and Skull being mentioned should be your first worry," Jason said slowly. He exchanged a glance with Tommy, who nodded in agreement. "They have a reputation for a reason. And it's not a good one."

"They're harmless," Avalon said.

"Harmless isn't quite the word I'd used," Bailey pointed out. It was the first time she'd spoken since that morning. "Goofy, maybe. Silly. Funny. Cowardly. All those words I reckon I'd use. But not harmless."

"Exactly why we should be worried if they're coming to the party," Angela said. She leaned back, crossing her legs at the knee. "There's always something those bozos can get up to, they can ruin a pretty good time. No, we can't invite them. My friends are pretty cool and they can score some good food and music." Her fingers already moved through the contacts on her phone, moving to make a group contact list to invite.

"Well, it's all the main brain's decision over here, anyway," Zack insisted. He reached out and clapped his hand onto Billy's shoulder, watching the blue ranger's face throughout the conversation. He'd stayed pensive as he listened to everyone speak. "It's his place, his rules, his decision."

Billy sighed, folding his arms. "If everyone already thinks we're having a party, then we may as well," he said. "I did invite all of you up and you've done a respectable job to keep things clean around here." He grinned over at Tommy, whose eyes widened innocently.

"I did my best, alright," Tommy said. "I just…I've never really been organized." Kimberly threw and arm around her boyfriend's shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. Angela glanced at them and rolled her eyes, still sticking her nose in her phone.

"I think we already knew that by looking at your locker, bro," Jason commented. He smiled, ignoring the jab of the elbow that Trini threw into his side. "It's like a bomb went off."

Avalon looked at her boyfriend with raised eyebrows. "So, does that mean we're having a party, or no?" She asked him. "It's all up to you, Smurf."

Billy thought for another moment the nodded.

Zack whooped, throwing his hands into the air, much like he'd done when finding out about their trip in the first place. Beside him, Angela squealed in delight as well. She leapt to her feet and hurried from the kitchen, calling over her shoulder as she went, "I'm going to invite everyone!"

Shaking his head, Billy ran a hand through his hair. "Why do I get the feeling I've just made a big mistake?"

"Excuse me, but we're in party central now, you can't think like that," Zack said. "I won't let you." Zack folded his arms. "And it's going to be the blowout of the year! A party we'll never forget."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, everything starts with the next chapter, just had to have them have some sort of fun while together before the tragedy starts. Hope you all don't hate me too much.

Sorry it took so long to update. What do you think is going to happen next? There are some points of foreshadowing in this chapter despite the time jump that happened. I needed to speed up the pace a little bit. Chapters do get longer after this one. Also, I'm open for my next character focused _Powerless_ story to be worked on, your choices are; Tommy, Billy, Jason, Zack, Avalon, and Bailey's stories. Which one would you like to see next?

 **~Av**


	5. Chapter 5

**05**

* * *

Zack squeezed his eyes shut. Hoped with everything that when he opened them again things would be alright. That things would be back to normal. He'd be with his friends, hanging out and fighting putties. Sparring with each other as they readied themselves for the next fight coming their way. Used their zords as their own personal robots to beat each other up, to figure out new maneuvers the robotic monsters hadn't been able to do before.

And simply were themselves.

Zack leaned forward, resting his forehead against his hands. His knees rapidly bobbed up and down, unable to sit still. Typically, Zack would swing himself around the hallways, trying to make all the doctors and nurses smile with his dance moves and jokes. He couldn't do it. Not when he couldn't smile himself. Not when so much had changed.

 _Okay, when you open your eyes, you'll be in your History class._

Zack's eyes blinked open. No. He wasn't in history class. Taking in a deep breath, Zack tried once more. Closed his eyes, took a deep breath, tried to convince himself he was somewhere else. Anywhere else. _You're at Ernie's, helping Jason try to make a bench-pressing record._ No. _You're in the park, playing basketball with your friends._ No. _Kimberly and Trini are helping you shop around for some new clothes._ No. _You're fighting putties, Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Rito, monsters raining down on your city. Tommy's leading you all into battle and you'll save the day, go back to Ernie's and get a standing ovation at the next Power Ranger's Day._

No.

No.

No.

Anything, _anything_ would've been better than his current state. His parents harping on him for preferring dance over football was better. Getting lectures about goofing off in class was better. Being forced to listen to Billy try to explain all things science while Zack numbly tapped a pencil against a desk. Bulk teasing him. Skull's annoying laugh in his ear. Anything. _Anything_ was better than his reality.

Zack sucked in another breath, this time through his nose as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him. The cold wall, equally as cold as the empty hallway that was filled with doctors every few minutes. They'd give him cold looks, barely give him any answers, could only glance at the blood stains smeared over his palms, stained into the knees of his jeans, dripped over his sneakers. Stared at him with accusing glances that made Zack want to curl up and die.

He deserved to die.

The moment the thought entered his head, Zack Taylor broke down and started to cry. He hadn't cried until then. Had been in too much shock. Even when the doctors treated him, asked him questions about what had happened, he didn't cry.

 _"Who was driving, Zack?" The first doctor demanded, wrapping a bandage around his ribs._

 _"I…uh…" Zack swallowed hard, winced. His mouth was fuzzy, tongue was as heavy as a bowling ball, he was sure his words were slurred as he spoke. He answered and the doctor demanded the question once more. Who was driving. "I…I don't…." Again, Zack's words were unable to fall from his mouth, like the blood dripping down his chin. They stuck to his tongue, his head swam, his vision slanted._

 _"Who was driving?!"_

 _The doctor nearly roared, making Zack jump. Finally, he shook his head and murmured. "I don't know."_

 _The doctor looked at him as if he didn't believe Zack and continued to work on him. Wrapped up his ribs, cleaned up his hands the best he could, assessed the rest of his body for any serious damage. Nothing. "You're lucky," The doctor commented. "Your friends were."_

 _And he left Zack in his room, saying police officers were going to come. Zack nodded, lifting his chin to stare at the wall across from him. He brought up a hand and pressed it to his ribs, wincing at the pain that erupted through his body. He lowered his hand and pushed himself to his feet, left the examining table. He grabbed his flannel shirt and pulled it up over his bare arms that stuck out form his black wife beater. He moved slowly, the bruises on his biceps hindering his movements. He left the hospital room. He couldn't stand not knowing what happened to his friends._

 _Zack lowered himself into a nearby seat and slouched down. He'd wait as long as he had to, to get some information. Even if it meant all night._

And Zack had been waiting for most of the night. Waited for what was going to happen; their parents had been called, they were racing to find their children, and Zack was going to be the first ones they ran into. He was going to take the blame, no matter what. There wasn't anything he could say differently.

 _He_ wanted to throw the party.

 _He_ overlooked things that made him and his friends worry.

 _He_ reassured everyone things would be okay.

 _He_ went along with the others even though, maybe, they weren't in the right state to do so.

He made all those decisions and there was no turning back. Zack's façade finally broke. He was no longer numb. He sat alone in the cold plastic chair, crying. Not crying, sobbing. Screaming. Sobbing so hard his hangover was replaced by a migraine of grief. Sobbed so hard his wailing was heard all throughout the hallways.

Sobbed so hard that he didn't see the doctors and nurses rushing around him. Didn't see the blood stains on their scrubs, didn't hear the codes and warnings they called back and forth to each other as they raced from room to room. Didn't notice the police officers standing at the end of the hall, getting briefed over what had been brought to the hospital.

Zack tried speaking to them earlier. Tried to get any sort of answers, information that would come his way. "Excuse me?" He'd tried to get a doctor's attention, but they brushed right past him. "What's going on?" He tried again, still, no response.

He didn't know what happened, but if no one was answering him, if they were all too busy…it was bad. He knew it intuitively. Knew it from his parents. They were doctors, wanted the best out of life for him. It had been drilled in his head for years, "Education is your way out." "We're expecting a lot of you." "You're making us so proud." Just as he knew every little nuance of hospitals and doctor's offices others didn't.

If he wasn't getting any answers, if people were avoiding him…things weren't good.

As a matter of fact, they were tragic.

"Zachary Taylor left the accident with a couple of scrapes and bruises." Zack perked up as he heard his name. His sobbing subsided, chest heaving as he listened. His breath hitched in his throat every three breaths, making it difficult for him to calm down. He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling it rapidly and sporadically rise and fall. A nurse spoke to the police officers at the end of the hall. She spoke quietly, urgently, prompting Zack to get up from his seat.

He inched closer to him, straining to hear.

"His friends weren't so lucky."

No.

Zack swallowed hard. _His friends weren't so lucky._ What happened to them? Zack brought out his hand, rested it on the wall beside him, worked hard to keep himself up. His legs were starting to give out.

"Any fatalities?" The police officer asked.

Zack continued towards them. He'd stopped sobbing, stopped hyperventilating, but his breaths continued to come out in gasps. Blood pounded in his ears. His heart throbbed against his chest, painfully radiating against his bruised ribs. He watched as the nurse heaved a heavy sigh, looking much older than her young thirties.

He didn't hear her answer. Her lips moved, he couldn't hear her. The police officer said something back and shook his head, pinching at the bridge of his nose. Zack continued to move toward them, his movements desperate.

Wait.

What happened?

Were there any fatalities?

Finally, Zack could hear again. Could only hear the police officer's final response, "Thanks for telling me," The doctor replied as she heaved a weary sigh himself. He shook his head, a paternal expression coming to his face. "They're all so young, they've got their lives ahead of them and this happens…" He licked his lips, took in a deep breath, and steadied himself, rolling his shoulders back. He was back in his element, working professionally. "What we should do is…"

Zack couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. There seemed to be a roaring in his ears, he felt dizzy, sick. Zack slowly collapsed to the ground, pressing his body weight into the wall next to him. He fell to the ground, pressed his face against his knees. He hid his face, worked to hide himself from the world. Everything stripped away from him, he was falling through the void of darkness, straining to remember.

He remembered red and blue lights.

Remembered glass.

Remembered a twisted and mangled car.

Remembered the sound of someone screaming. Screaming. Screaming.

 _Zack crawled on his hands and knees, glass embedding into his skin, ripping the flesh, causing blood to flow from his palms. He stood up and turned back to look at the car, stared in surprised at how crushed it'd become. Like an empty soda can tossed aside as trash. Smoke rose from beneath the hood of the car, he could see someone lying quietly on the ground, could hear shouting and desperate screams_. Sirens filled the area.

 _He coughed hard, bringing a hand to his chest, rubbed large circles, hoping to rid himself of the pain._

The pain continued to bloom through his chest, ribs creaking each time he took a breath. It increased as his desperation increased.

Desperate to know what was real. He was stuck in a limbo of a dream and reality. That feeling when he stayed up too late with Jason, goofing around. When he'd be in so much of a haze that when he finally fell asleep, it was like everything that happened before may as well have been in his imagination. That was a cruel dream taunting him

"C'mon, think!" Zack whispered, grabbing his hair. " _Think!_ What happened to you?" a fresh wave of tears slid down his cheeks. "What happened to your friends?"

He still had no answers, and still no doctor or nurse would stop long enough to give him an answer. All he wanted to do was go home and cry to his mother. How pathetic. He got hurt and the first thing he wanted was his mom. He was a power ranger for crying out loud. But...his mother always knows how to make things better. He wanted to to her side, cry, and have her tell him that everything was going to be alright. It was then he heard the loud shouts, the rising commotion and looked up to find his parents tearing down the hallway toward him. Zack looked at them and burst out into a fresh wave of tears. His mother and father swept them up into their arms, crying, holding him as tightly as they could, didn't want to let go.

"Mom…dad…" Zack whimpered, holding them just as tightly. He clung to them as he did when he was a child, afraid to let go of his parents in case they left him. This time, if they did leave, he wouldn't blame them.

The only thing that was going through his head was:

 _Why did this have to happen?_

 _When Zack knew, somewhere in the swirling abyss of memories he worked to untangle, he was the reason it all happened and he'd be the reason if something worse happened._

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, similarly to _The Wounded Hart,_ this story will be told in flashbacks. There will be a flashback in every chapter that reveals a bit more as to what happened as the story moves forward. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I did say everything was going to start, but I bet you didn't see it coming so soon.

So, what do you think happened to the others? I'll update again soon, I'm happy and excited to be getting back to this.

Also, not all chapters will be this short.

 **~Av**


	6. Chapter 6

**06**

* * *

 **3 HOURS AGO**

"Help! Oh my God, help me! Please!"

Zack's eyes opened. Then closed. Opened again. He coughed hard, wincing as pain erupted in his chest. Something gritty in his eye made him blink rapidly. He brought up his hands to rub at his eyes. No, didn't bring them up. Brought them down. Down to his face to rub at his eyes. Releasing his muscles, his arms draped over his head once more.

Zack coughed, blinked hard. His vision swam, swirling vortexes of color that didn't make sense. Bright colors, bright colored muted by the darkness around him. Zack shifted his head, tried to see something. Anything. It was too dark. Zack dropped his hands to his lap, felt his seatbelt holding him in. His fingers scuttled over the buckle until, finally, he managed to release himself. Zack slammed to the roof of the car and slowly uncurled himself.

The roof.

Last thing he knew, he was driving. Sitting straight up. Going to get more food for the party. And now…now Zack worked to wiggle his way out of the driver's seat, out the narrow window that'd become crushed when…when whatever happened, happened.

Flipping himself to his stomach, Zack pressed his arms against the ground, working to pull himself forward, out the window and into the cool, night air. Zack crawled on his hands and knees, glass embedding into his skin, ripping the flesh, causing blood to flow from his palms until he was free from the wreckage. He stood up and turned back to look at the car, stared in surprised at how crushed it'd become. Like an empty soda can tossed aside as trash. Smoke rose from beneath the hood of the car, he could see someone lying quietly on the ground, could hear shouting and desperate screams. Sirens filled the area.

Zack coughed hard, bringing a hand to his chest, rubbed large circles, hoping to rid himself of the pain. Coughed harder and harder. His hands dropped to the front of his jeans, searching for his morpher. If he could morph, the pain would go away, he'd be strong. All until he demorphed, then the pain and weakness would come back, two-fold, sapping more energy and strength from him than before.

His hands continued to wander.

It took a few seconds for him to realize his morpher was missing.

* * *

Zack jolted awake from an empty dream. He didn't remember anything. Blackness. Not even colors. He didn't hear anything. No screams. No anguished cries. Nothing but the deafening sound of silence. And yet, something had scared him awake. Some loud thing, some big thing that pulled him from the depths of his subconscious and back to reality.

He looked around, noticing his parents weren't around. They'd been there when he'd gone to sleep, his head falling heavily on his mother's shoulder as she rocked him back and forth, running her fingers through his hair. Soothing him the way she'd always done when he was a child. Zack wouldn't ever consider himself to be egregiously religious; he went to church every Sunday, prayed when he needed to, and worked hard to be the best version of himself that could be seen in the Lord's eyes. And yet, he was the same person that would go off to hang out with his friends rather than going to church if a better offer came up.

He'd wave off his mother's disapproving looks and say he'd be with them next time. "How many times am I going to be young?" He asked, echoing the words back to them that they consistently put on him, usually when he was talking about what he wanted to do in the future. Now, Zack understood what the words truly meant.

You're only young once. Don't waste that potential of what you can experience because of what you want to do with your future. And yet, they were also the ones who were asking him what he wanted to do with his future. Go to school on an athletic scholarship? (They were really pushing for football, basketball, or track and field). Go to school on an academic scholarship? (He had to admit, he was _really_ good in his math classes). Would he go straight into the work force? (Re: join his parents' offices and work from the bottom up?) There were too many options but only one life to live.

And he'd ruined that life.

Not just with his decision to drink and drive, not just because of his decision to drink while underage, but because of the resulting consequences. He didn't know if anyone was killed, didn't know how hurt anyone was, didn't know if they'd make full recoveries. But his life wouldn't. The police knew he was driving, the police knew the party was his idea, the police knew he was the one who had said that bringing alcohol to the party was okay. All because he wanted to impress Angela. His father had told him time and time again, "Don't lose your head over a girl," and he'd done just that.

He'd lost his head over a girl. On two fronts; she was an _older_ girl and she was the one girl he'd always had his eyes on. When she finally turned her attention back to him, he couldn't help but lap it up. Couldn't help but revel in it if he could. There were too many other guys she could give her attention to and she wanted to be with _him._ Why shouldn't he take advantage of it? If he knew what it'd end up as, he'd stay far away from her.

Turn her away the second she mentioned she was bringing beer to the party.

 _"It's not a big deal," she said, opening the cap of one. She let out a short 'ah', face screwing up when she swallowed. "It doesn't taste great but…" she held it out to him, question in her eyes._

Zack wished he turned her down. He wished he could go back in time and do everything different. He'd stop himself from being so jealous, so envious of everyone's relationships and ask if Angela could join them. He'd gladly sit back and watch all his friends cuddle with each other while he sat aside with Bailey and Fred, wondering what it'd be like.

He'd give anything.

Zack rubbed his eyes, heart thudding over his chest, watched as doctors gathered at the end of the hallway. His heart sank even further, hearing a name mentioned. "…Mitchell…she's not doing too well. She hasn't woken up, hasn't responded to anything that's been going on. The prognosis…the prognosis isn't good….ICU…right now, it looks touch and go….sister is here…can't contact parents…unsure if it goes to the Olivers or…they need to be notified…prepared in case things take a turn…"

"Zack?"

That's what'd gotten his attention. That's what'd woken him up out of his dead sleep. Not the creeping cold of the hospital chilling him to the bone. Not the chaos erupting around him. Not his parents' moving away to…wherever they were. But the sound of his name being called.

Zack's head whipped to the side and he saw Avalon standing next to him. For a moment, he didn't recognize her. Her long hair hung in stringy clumps around her face, wet strands staining the shoulders of her jacket. The sleeves of her jacket hung over her hands, the end coming to her knees, cutting off her 5'0 stature to make her look…just like a child. A child who was lost, looking for her parents. The look on her face didn't help matters; loss and fear filled her brown eyes. Her lower lip trembles. Water dripped off the ends of her sleeves and to the floor, mixing with the blood that dripped from her knees to the ground.

Zack frowned. She wasn't in the car with them. She'd refused to go. _What happened?_ He thought.

Avalon asked the question out loud. "What happened?" Her voice was hoarse. She'd been crying. "Zack…I saw…where is everyone?" Her voice strengthened as she spoke, barely sitting on the end of rational. Her face slowly grew enraged. It took Zack a second to realize what was happening.

His gaze shifted towards the doctors, who continued to converse in low, rumbling tones. Zack couldn't hear what was being said, but could only guess. Avalon heard everything the doctors had said before she called Zack's name. Had probably been there longer than he thought. "Where's Bay?" she demanded. Zack shook his head. He didn't know. Had no answers. Avalon wouldn't have it. "Where's Bailey, Zack?" She moved closer to her friend's side. If she noticed any pain Zack was in, she didn't show it. "What happened? _What'd you do?!"_

What'd you do?!

What'd you do?!

What'd you do?!

The words echoed in his head. Then a shrieking filled his ears. A sudden, low noise that continued as the seconds passed. Then he was hit. The first blow landing on his ribs, making him cry out in pain. Then the second landed on his shoulder, jerking him back into a standing position. Avalon continued to rain blows on him, punching the black ranger as hard as she could. Her morpher, which sat on the front of her jeans flashed in the light. Zack felt like throwing up. They

Zack stepped back with each blow against his chest. Each fist striking him slowly broke down the wall he'd built up inside. Threatened to make the walls crumble and his emotions come spilling out once more. And Avalon continued to shriek as she did so, a horrifying shriek that only those feeling nothing short of despair could yield. Zack squeeze his eyes shut against the shrieking. He brought up his hands and placed them on Avalon's back, holding her tightly.

She continued to hit him until breaking down into sobs, easily mixing in with the ones Zack had thought he'd gotten out of his system. And the two held onto each other as they cried. Cried about their friends, cried about the unknown, cried that they had every power in their disposal to keep people safe and they couldn't do anything to keep themselves safe from driving.

"I'm sorry," Zack murmured.

Avalon didn't respond for a second. She continued to hold onto him, a lifeline to keep herself up as she gathered her strength. And yet, she was strong enough to murmur a low and dangerous, "I hate you."

Zack's arms dropped from around the orange ranger. He looked just over her head, not wanting to see the glare on her face. Not wanting her to know that her words, as harsh as they were, didn't hurt him simply because he'd had the same thoughts. He hated himself for everything.

There wasn't anything any of them could say that'd be worse than what he'd said to himself.

"He's over there."

Zack's eyes shifted. He felt Avalon stiffen in his arms and the two rangers turned to see police officers striding their way, eyes focused straight on the black ranger. Zack swallowed hard, watching as they came closer and closer. Behind the officers, Zack could see a nurse pointing toward them, a stern expression on her face.

The officers walked straight up to Zack and looked him in the eye. His face was nothing short of stern. "Zachary Taylor?" The officer grasped his arm. Zack looked up at him. He was different than the officers he'd seen earlier that night…or morning? Time went by slowly, almost non-existent while he waited for any information.

"Yes," Zack said. He swallowed hard. Knew what was coming before the handcuffs were tightened around his wrists.

"We need you to come with us."

Zack was pulled away from the orange ranger, who watched him leave, her anger turning to confusion and fear. Zack faced forward, allowing himself to be taken towards the front of the hospital. Passing room after room. Finally, he emerged out in the waiting room and stopped short.

Stopped short when his eyes caught Tommy's.

Tommy gaped back at him, gently cradling his broken arm against his chest. The front of his white t-shirt was covered in blood. Clutched tightly in his hand was a blood splattered communicator. Even from where Zack stood he could see the pink grooves within the silver, metal bands.

Zack's gaze flickered over Tommy's face once more before he was led away.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry it took so long to get back to this. You'll find out more of some of the other rangers in the next chapter.

 **~Av**


	7. Chapter 7

**07**

* * *

Tommy watched as Zack was taken away. He shifted, moved to get into a good position on an otherwise uncomfortable chair, and winced, feeling the pain shoot through his arm like lightning. How long would it take before he could be seen? Seconds later, his guilt overwhelmed him.

How could he be so selfish when his friends were hurt When he didn't know what happened to them? No, that wasn't entirely true. Zack was okay; despite having been the one who jumped on the idea of getting some more drinks. Avalon was okay, she opted not to go to along with them. Had been emphatic about it, in fact. Maybe, in some way, she knew what was going to happen? Maybe she had a feeling that things were going to go wrong? She'd always been perceptive like that.

Maybe it was a feeling? A feeling they'd all ignored. Dull pain started to throb at the base of Tommy's skull. How much had _he_ drank? Not too much. Or maybe it was because he followed his father's rules so strictly, even if he was away from them for the night? _"Don't do anything I wouldn't do,"_ Mr. Oliver warned with a half-smile. Tommy had smiled back, hearing the tease in his father's voice. Then his face turned serious. _"Now, I know you'll probably be getting up to somethings you're not ready for. You're a teenager. It happens. I won't be there to tell you not to do anything stupid. Just remember, if you're going to be doing any drinking, to drink as much water and to eat a lot of food so you don't drink as fast."_

It wasn't that that was a hard rule to follow. Much like Jason and Trini, Tommy felt his body was his temple. He cared about the food and drinks that went in it, making sure he was in top physical shape for anything that'd come his way. Monster fights and martial arts tournaments. It was why, when he was first offered a drink, he hesitated. His mind immediately went in two ways.

One; stick to the rules he'd given himself. He progressed in his training because he didn't allow himself to get stuck in the pitfalls that most teens found themselves in. More drama than they knew what to do with. Drama wasn't Tommy's bag, even when he and Kimberly were fighting they made sure to communicate _why_ they were mad at each other. Sometimes it took a day or two after they took time to cool off and see things from each other's perspective. But it wasn't anything they needed to drag on just because it got them off in some way.

Two; he wasn't a normal teenager and probably never would be. Ever since becoming a power ranger, Tommy didn't have the chance to be normal. Every day he trained to be at the top of his game. Not just for martial arts, but because of the monsters that were bound to show up. And they showed up like clockwork. He couldn't allow himself to be defeated or else it was Angel Grove that was going to suffer the consequences for it. And yet, he didn't go to parties, didn't go to many school functions, didn't hang out with people outside of his group of friends despite there being plenty of nice people in their class. He didn't have outlandish stories over the weekend to share with his classmates. Honestly, he knew their peers called him and his friends 'boring' from time to time. They were so straight-laced and didn't do anything wrong.

Until that night.

Until the one time Tommy decided to try and be just like everyone else. He didn't think there was anything wrong with having a beer or so. Or was it three? He'd paced himself, made sure he drank enough water, and even had a plate of food on him at all times. So, when he first started to feel the effects of being drunk, it surprised him. His head felt…heavy. Sloshed back and forth. And things that normally wouldn't be so funny were suddenly hysterical.

He found himself leaning against whatever piece of furniture that'd hold him up as he felt himself loosening up. That was the other thing people didn't really know about him. That only Kimberly truly got to see. Sometimes, he could be shy. The first time he laid eyes on Kimberly, her beauty rendering him speechless aside, he wasn't sure what to say to her. There were too many things. "Hi." "What's your name?" "Where've you been all my life?"

And all of it was…so stupid. So much so he was glad she spoke first. When meeting the other rangers it was the same. He felt nothing but the crippling sense of being shy but pushed it aside to meet them. If Kimberly was friends with them, then they had to be good people. Since then he'd manage to become more outgoing. But at what cost? Just to alienate everyone around him because he couldn't risk them getting hurt?

Tommy closed his eyes against the blinding fluorescents above him. He tightened his grasp around Kimberly's communicator. Studied the tiny drops of blood on it, almost unnoticeable compared to the ones on his shirt. It wasn't his blood. He'd figured it out quickly. It wasn't his blood. He wasn't sure whose blood it was. Everyone seemed to be injured in some way. Whisked off in ambulances as soon as they arrived.

Not enough to get him there as well. No, he had to answer a few questions by the police before he was taken in the back of a cruiser to the hospital. Taken to the hospital and dumped into a chair. It still hadn't hit him yet, what was going on. Tommy simply sat there, waiting as more people continued to filter in. Some hysterical, others quiet. He didn't know what happened to his friends. Every few minutes he would get up and ask, but there was no more information to be given.

Not until Tommy saw Zack being led away by police. Not until the black ranger's eyes caught him, showcasing the guilt and fear within them. Tommy watched him as he went by. His heart ached. Zack's hands were held behind his back, wrists clamped together with handcuffs. No. Tommy shook his head.

Not Zack. Zack had nothing to do with it.

"Tommy."

Tommy's attention was taken away from the black ranger to focus on the orange ranger. He immediately got up from his seat and threw his good arm around his adoptive sister's shoulders. He was surprised to find her shaking, wanting the hug. She held him tightly, squeezing the back of his t-shirt in her hands. T-shirt. Blood stains. Tommy immediately backed away.

Avalon looked at him in confusion, then her gaze lowered to the front of his shirt. Tommy lowered his hands to his own shirt. Grasped the fabric and pulled it out. It was the closest look he'd had to it since it started. Red. Bright red. Much like…much like Jason's suit. A similar color, though turning rusty as it dried. Tommy shook his head, thoughts of the green ranger entering his head. It was an inappropriate time, but he couldn't stop it.

Back then, he wanted nothing more than to kill Jason. Kill the red ranger and take over the team. Destroy everything in his path. Leave him writhing in a pool of blood. Now, he was covered in someone's blood and it was the most horrific thing he could've imagine. Not having any answers. And unknown assailant who'd managed to take them down.

"What happened?" Avalon asked. Her voice shook. "'Is…"

"It's not my blood," Tommy murmured. He shook his head, then closed his eyes. Groaned. Nausea filled his stomach once more. Too much pain for him to ignore. "It's…it's not my blood. There's…something happened. There was a crash. Kim…I don't know…" He held out her communicator. Avalon's eyes ducked to the blood on the band and clamped her mouth shut. A vein twitched in her jaw.

"The others?" She asked.

"I don't know."

"Bay?"

"I don't—"

"No, Tommy," Avalon interrupted. She swallowed hard. Her voice shook at her next words. "She's…she's in the ICU. They don't know who to call, your parents or mine or…" Tears came to her eyes, spilled down her cheeks, glittering like crystal. Much more delicate than the power and strength she exuded every day. "I don't know what happened. I think she's…I think she's…"

"She's _not,"_ Tommy interrupted. "She's not…" he could force himself to say the word. Couldn't come close. If he said anything, it'd become real. All of it would become real when it was nothing more than a dream. "She's going to be fine. She's going to be fine, Trini's going to be fine, Zack's going to be fine, Jason's going to be fine, Kim…" his words broke off.

Avalon looked at him sadly. Tears silently fell down her cheeks, wobbled off her chin, dripping to her shirt which was free of blood. Her body free of any injuries. The only one who was completely innocent in what happened that night.

"Kim's…"

A sob escaped Tommy's lips.

* * *

 **3 HOURS AGO**

Tommy smiled and leaned away from Kimberly's embrace. Laughed as a frustrated pout came to her lips. Then she sat back, disgruntled, and tried to kiss him again. This time, Tommy ducked his head, keeping her lips from landing on his. Just to make it a little more difficult for her. He couldn't help but laugh at her intense irritation. Kimberly, on the best of days, could be spoiled. There wasn't much she didn't get that she wanted. This time around, she wanted nothing more than to kiss her boyfriend and she wasn't getting it.

"Tommy," Kimberly whined, making Tommy laugh.

"Hey, hey!" Zack called from the front seat. "You better be keeping your hands to yourself back there."

"When have you ever known them to keep their hands to themselves?" Trini shot back. Sitting next to him. Zack laughed and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. Tommy, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Kimberly. Wanted to watch her as long as he could. She smiled sweetly back at him and gave him a kiss that was just as sweet.

Though her breath surely was not. She didn't drink nearly as much as he did, but it still wasn't very pleasant. Or maybe it was his own breath? Tommy frowned and removed his hands from his girlfriend. He cupped his hands around his mouth. Breathed out hard and sniffed. Was it that bad?

"Your breath is that bad, dude," Jason commented from Tommy's other side.

"How do you know?" Tommy shifted to face him. Nearly fell over as Zack tugged on the wheel, the car back to the center of their lane.

"Because I can smell it all the way over here." Jason waved his hand in front of his face, pushed Tommy away from him. Tommy fell back into Kimberly's waiting arms, the two laughing hysterically. Jason chuckled, shaking his head.

Tommy snuggled back against Kimberly's chest, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She placed a kiss to the top of his head before running her fingers through his hair. Kimberly continued to giggle to herself. Tipsy giggles. She couldn't stop. Tommy lifted his chin to kiss her but missed, he was too drunk to even come close. Instead, he turned to look at the back of the car, where the seats had been flipped down.

Angela lay quietly on the seat, curled up in a ball. Every few minutes she would moan quietly. Her hands rubbed small circles on her stomach. Tommy watched her for a moment. She seemed to get worse as the seconds passed, as they bumped along the road.

"How's my girl doing?" Zack asked.

"About as good as the rest of us," Jason murmured. His head lolled to the side, cheek pressed into his upraised palm. He sucked in a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

"No one forced you to drink anything," Trini reminded him. She twisted around n her seat to smile at her boyfriend. "And no one said you had to come with us, either."

"Uh, yes he did," Zack intervened. "I needed all you guys with me. Do you really think these guys would've sold me any beer? On my own? In a place this remote?" He rapidly shook his head. The car veered back and forth across the street with his movement. "Whoa. Whoa!" Seconds of silence passed before Zack started laughing. Loudly. Almost uncontrollably.

That made the rest of the car burst out into hysterical laughter. Laughter so loud, hard, and long that they didn't hear the blaring of the car they headed towards them until it was too late. Tommy was thrown forward the second they collided. As quickly as he was thrown forward, he felt himself get thrown backwards. Felt a blinding pain on his arm.

Heard a scream.

Not one scream.

A lot of them.

Then a sickening crunch. A crash. A bang. Everything went dark. Tommy fell in and out of conscience. One minute he was in the car. The next he was slowly climbing from it. Darkness. Then he was sitting ont eh side of the road. Darkness. Then he was crying.

Crying and choking as he heard screams.

"Help! Oh my God, help me! Please!"

Cried as he stared at the car lying upside down in the middle of the road. The other coming to a stop in the trees, front end crumpled in and horn continuously blaring.

* * *

"Kim's…" Tommy tried again. His words continued to fail him. Pain bloomed in his chest. He fought to catch his breath. "Kim…I don't know." Tommy lowered his head and started to cry. "Jason, Trini, Angela…I…I…."

He sucked in a deep breath, lowered his head to Avalon's shoulder, and cried harder than he'd ever cried before.

He was the leader of the team. He was to protect everyone.

But he couldn't even do that.

* * *

 **A/N:** Geez, such angst, right? I'll update again soon. Chapters will get longer.

 **~Av**


	8. Chapter 8

**08**

* * *

 **6 HOURS AGO**

Billy folded his arms and tilted his head to the side as Zack stood in front of him, smiling sheepishly. Zack, finally, stood up straight and said, "Don't look at me like that, man."

"How am I supposed to look at you?" Billy replied, voice cool. Zack winced, taking a step back from the blue ranger. He'd never seen him so mad before. "There's hundreds of kids in my house right now."

"It's not _hundreds_ ," Zack tried to defend himself. "More like…forty or fifty."

"Well, which is it? Forty or Fifty?"

"…I'm not sure."

Billy rolled his eyes and turned his back to the black ranger, pressing his palms against the dresser behind him. The two stood quietly in the bedroom, listening to the muffled sounds of the party below them for a few moments. Zack didn't even dare breathe around Billy, not knowing how the big brain was going to react.

Billy didn't get angry so often, but when he did, it was smart to keep quiet and let him speak. Billy, on a good day, was a man of few words. When he was angry, he became a stone wall. And the glare he'd send was the worst. Zack had only seen Billy glare at him once, and it was something he never wanted to repeat.

"Billy, man, things aren't that bad."

"You say that now, and the next thing you know, everything is going to be trashed. I know how these things go and it was exactly why I didn't want to throw a party in the first place."

Zack folded his arms, letting out a quick breath through his nose. "I wasn't the only one who wanted it," he pointed out. God, this was so tiring. He wanted to do something fun and everyone else had to act like they were 50 years old and keep telling him why it wasn't a good idea. "We all agreed it was a good idea."

"But we didn't agree it'd come to be something like this," Billy pointed out. He gestured vaguely toward the door to the room that continued to rattle, with frantic knocking on the other side. He waited for a moment, the two hearing low giggles in between the knocking. "People are everywhere, and I can't sit back and wonder what's going to happen to my house."

"Technically, it's not your house," Zack pointed out.

Billy glared at him. Then he let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. It was the one thing Zack legitimately hated about Billy, that he didn't yell or get extremely loud when he was angry. He became quiet and sullen, even a bit snappy. But nothing that would make Zack feel any better. It'd be better if Billy were to yell, he could everything out. Receiving the cold shoulder was nothing short of torture.

Zack chewed his lower lip, looking away from his friend. He knew everything was his fault. He felt terrible about it. But all the same, Zack didn't _want_ to feel terrible about it. He was tired of feeling terrible about things. How many times had he listened to his parents continue to—in their mild way—berate him for what he deemed fun. They didn't want him to do dance, they didn't want him to go to parties, they didn't want him to hang out as much. They wanted him to be focused and serious. On school work and football and his future.

And the one time he wanted to get to himself, the one time he wanted to have some fun within the last couple of weeks and he was getting berated for that, too. So Billy could be a stick in the mud at times, why did that have to be taken out on him? Why, after all the time they spent stopping monsters and being the most responsible of those around him, did they not deserve the chance to be teenagers?

Why was he the only one who understood that they had a big responsibility on their shoulders, but they'd be crazy to let it take over their lives? He enjoyed the responsibility, he loved being a ranger, he cared about everyone in Angel Grove and wouldn't trade anything for it. But did that mean he had to lose everything else over it?

"I'm just saying it's a cabin," Zack said calmly. Trying to keep his own anger in check. Hoping he could get Billy to understand. "It's not like it's your actual house. And there were some things we had to fix up once we got here, right?"

Billy nodded at that. It was true. The dock at the lake had to be fixed, the wood creaked and groaned every step any of the group took. So much so that a part of it broke away, throwing Kimberly into the water their first night at the cabin. The ice maker leaked all over the carpet on one of their nights out in the town, making a mildew smell stay for a few days. To the point that they had to sleep with the windows open. That wasn't the last of their problems. Sometimes bugs got in, sometimes it got to be too cold at night.

But they managed to get through everything with a laugh. Why was this any different?

"That doesn't mean I'm going to allow these people to have free reign over my property," Billy pointed out. He rubbed his neck, where a red welt started to form. Zack couldn't help but wince. Bulk and Skull certainly had become very rough when they arrived at the cabin along with the rest of Angela's friends.

Once Bulk barged himself into the cabin, striking Billy along the side of the head with a keg he was carrying over his shoulder, Billy turned to Avalon, who stood behind him with wide eyes, watching her friends go by. Then there were more and more people streaming in as the seconds passed; cheerleaders, football players, nearly everyone from their grade in school. Zack hadn't expected so many people to show up. How many friends did Angela really have?

And things had been fine at first. Until they weren't.

Drinks were being spilled. Things were being broken. Music was too loud. Laughter was too loud. People were starting to fight. Bulk and Skull were egging each other on in the more obnoxious way they'd seen at school. And…there were drinks. Billy didn't mind it so much when it was just Angela who started off the whole thing. Guilt rumbled through Zack's stomach, knowing he was

Billy couldn't keep his thoughts quiet anymore and had dragged Zack into the bedroom to have a word with him. Or, quietly glare at him as the conversation was going. But Zack was tired of it. Tired of having constantly having everyone against him. Just tired of it all.

"Whatever, man," Zack murmured. He shook his head, taking a step back. "You just don't know how to have any fun."

Billy's eyebrows shot upwards. "It's not fun when people destroy someone else's property."

"Nothing is being destroyed!" Zack threw his hands into the air. He let out a frustrated cry. "You just don't know how to have fun. Billy Cranston, world's largest stick in the mud!" He sighed in frustration. "You can never just sit back and have fun. You can't ever let loose. It's why you're such a nerd, man, and get picked on all the time. You can't stand up for yourself and you never will."

Billy's lips pulled up at the corner of his mouth. A long silence stretched between the two. Zack knew Billy wasn't smiling because he thought what Zack said was funny. No, he was hurt. Zack could see it in his eyes. Could see how upset his words had made one of his best friends. But he couldn't stop the words before they came. For some reason, his brain let him say those hurtful things without giving him the chance to process it.

"Have you been drinking, Zack?" Billy asked.

The question caught Zack off-guard. So much so that it was the first time he'd ever not had something to say. Billy figured out his silence quickly, understood what it meant while Zack struggled to figure out how Billy found out. With a nod, Billy stepped to the door and yanked it open. A young couple, a guy and girl they'd seen in their classes looked at the two with wide eyes before quickly muttering an apology and backing away. Billy ignored them, pointing to the open door.

"Get out," Billy said.

He'd said it so quietly, but as far as Zack was concerned, Billy yelled at him. He flinched as much from the cold words as to the quiet vehemence behind them. "Billy, man, come on. I didn't mean—"

"Get out!"

Zack dropped his hands to his sides, took one last look at Billy, and walked out of the guest room. He pushed his way through the crowd that filled the cabin, ignoring all the calls and greetings that turned his way. Ignored Trini trying to ask him what was wrong. What was wrong? A lot was wrong. But there was no point in trying to deal with it now.

Not when there were people that needed to be entertained.

So, Zack walked to the stereo, turned the music up even louder, grabbed Angela, and started a dance circle in the middle of the living room. Nothing got his mind off his troubles more than dancing did. If only other people could understand that and didn't rag on him all the time.

* * *

Zack fidgeted, his knees bouncing up and down in the empty examining room the police had taken him to. A makeshift interrogation room. He'd been split apart from his parents, given explicit instructions not to go anywhere. That they'd be back to talk to him soon.

He couldn't stand not knowing. Needed to know what was going on. Would he be charged? What happened to his friends? Zack looked around the room. The same room he got physicals so that he could be eligible to play on the football team as his parents wanted. He started to move slowly, a simply movement of his arms. The wave. Popping. Locking.

Then he was on his feet and moonwalking in a circle, dancing around the room. He moved as quickly as his body would let him. Worked to let out all the stress and worry around him. Tried to release all his emotions and…and everything…

Then he stopped.

Leaned over and placed his hands on his knees, fought to catch his breath. Tears came to his eyes. His breath became more ragged. Normally, when he danced, he was able to smile, putting away everything that was bothering him. Was able to compartmentalize. That time, coming to a stop, Zack felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of sadness.

His friends were hurt.

Dancing wasn't going to get him out of that one.

* * *

 **A/N:** Like I said, this story is going to be told in flashbacks, but they'll be numerous flashbacks that jump around until the entire story is pieced together. Let me know if anyone is confused by this, I'll do my best to help you out.

 **~Av**


	9. Chapter 9

**08**

* * *

Nurse Tate didn't care if Billy Cranston—she read his name off his file, and it was barked at her as she scrubbed in, amongst the chaos of screaming ambulances racing into the parking bay of the hospital—was tired. Didn't care if his eyelids fluttered. Didn't care if he had a long night. She needed to him to stay awake. Needed him to keep his eyes open. Needed him to stop moving around so goddamned much.

Geez, it was like people hadn't heard of what could happen if you fell asleep with a possible concussion. She _had_ to check, wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let him walk out of the room without at least checking. One thing she had to say, though, the kid was really lucky to be walking around like that.

Billy winced, leaning his head back from the flashlight waved in front of his face. The doctor grabbed his chin and held firmly, keeping his head still. Billy slowly closed his eyes, moved to bring his hand up to rub his forehead and was admonished once more.

"You need to stop moving," Nurse Tate said gruffly. An older woman who clearly had seen more than her fair share of accidents coming through the ER. But with the look in her eyes, Billy could see she was doing her best not to become too emotional. Emotions didn't help her do her job, didn't let her keep a clear head. Her emotions were best used later when comfort was what the moment needed.

At the moment, she needed Billy to stay damn still despite how well he was testing her patience. Billy seemed to understand from the passing expression over her face, he lowered his chin, almost bashfully. Let out a quiet breath and let her continue. He rested his hands on the sides of the examining table, tapping his fingertips repeatedly.

Nurse Tate watched his movements. Watched him closely. Watched his face. He kept his eyes down. A handsome face that would let him have any girl he wants. But there was an air of innocence around him despite eyes that held a seriousness she hadn't seen many boys his age have. She wondered if he had that look in his eyes before what happened that night.

Hoped he hadn't. _He seems too nice._

Nurse Tate lowered her hands from Billy's face and let out a humph, crossing her arms. "I don't see anything wrong," she said slowly. Billy lifted his head. "You hit your heat against that steering wheel pretty hard, but it's like nothing happened to you."

Billy cleared his throat, shifted in his seat. "I was knocked out," he said. His voice was quiet. Nurse Tate's eyebrows rose in surprise. She'd expected him to have a bit more of a masculine voice. Not that she could judge based on appearances. There were plenty of people she say day in and day out who didn't look like the circumstances they'd be in.

And she'd seen it all.

 _Still…_ Nurse Tate thought. There was something interesting about that boy. Something a little…other worldly. Nevertheless, her face softened as she continued to speak with him. "You've been in a terrible accident—"

Billy interrupted her. He didn't seem like the interrupting type. "I understand the ramifications of a head injury," he noted. "Especially if one is bad enough to make the person injured black out. Surely, you must need to administer an MRI—"

"—That's what I'm telling you, kid," Nurse Tate interrupted. "You suffered what should've been a catastrophic brain injury and yet I see nothing that would indicate you to need any further examination." She gestured toward his face, which showed some light bruising around his eyes and nose. "You hardly have a scratch on you. Must have a pretty hard head." Billy frowned. "I'm not insulting you, kid."

"It appears that you're insulting me medical intelligence," Billy insisted. "I have a lot of experience with medicinal remedies to my ailments and understanding when X-Rays, CAT Scans, and MRIs need to be administrated."

Nurse Tate smirked. This kid certainly was interesting. "You got family in the medical field?"

"No." He shook his head. "My father is a professor. My mother is…" he trailed off. A staccato filled the air. Nurse Jackie watched his fingers move faster, up and down, against the examining table.

Oh. That was it. He had lost his mother. It was why he was so jumpy in the hospital room. "It must've been hard to lose your mother," she said gently. Billy lowered his head even further, but didn't acknowledge her statement. "It must be hard to be back here now, after what happened last night. But, believe me, there's nothing wrong with your head, you're fine. You're as healthy as a horse. If I didn't know any better, I'd you were an alien considering how will you're responding to what happened…"

At that, Billy smiled a little. Something told her he wasn't smiling because of her comment that he was 'fine'. For all intents and purposes, he as fine. She and a doctor had looked over brain imaging and there was nothing to worry about. He didn't complain of a headache, didn't have any dizziness, no nausea. He continued to sit there and only respond when spoken to, like a gentleman.

"You don't want to keep me for observation?" Billy asked. "Not to ensure I don't have any adverse side-effects while I'm asleep?"

At that, Nurse Tate frowned. "Considering how many people you'd need to talk to before you leave here, I'm not worried about you falling asleep." She stepped toward the door. Hesitated. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk to me about?"

Billy looked at her blankly. He took in a deep breath, looked away. "How are…?" His voice trailed off, taking in a painful breath. Nurse Tate watched as his chest swelled, looking for any signs of pain in his face. He didn't show any signs of broken or bruised ribs, but she needed to be sure. "How is she?"

Nurse Tate's eyebrows furrowed together. How is she? How was who? Which she? Then it struck her. The 'she' he was talking about. At that, Nurse Tate hesitated, unsure of how to give the news. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. A mistake easily averted if the right choice had been made.

Billy lifted his chin, noticing Nurse Tate's hesitation. "Thank you for seeing me," he mumbled. He moved as if to gather his things; a coat, a wallet, keys. All taken in for evidence she was sure. Billy noticed, must have had the same thought—Nurse Tate knew he was smart—and frowned. "Am I being released to my father?"

"Yes, he arrived a few minutes ago."

Billy paused. "The rest of the parents?"

"They're on their way."

Billy nodded. He hopped down from the examining table, turned his back to her, brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Nurse Tate took the opportunity to step out of the room, giving him time to process everything. It was all she could do to not start crying.

Even as she walked back to the nurse's station, Nurse Tate had a hard time keeping it together.

Billy was a kid. Those were kids that had been brought into the hospital that night. Kids whose parents would scream and curse and cry once they got the news. Once they heard what happened. Once they found out the mistake that was made.

Why did they have to drink and drive?

* * *

Zack's head was heavy, sloshing back and forth with grief as he waited in the room he was to be interrogated in. His arms and legs hurt from dancing so much, so hard, trying to feel something. Trying to make things better. It didn't get better. Nothing would be better until he was with his friends again.

Who knew when that was.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting in the room when he heard a knock at the door. Zack barely had time to push himself into a sitting position before the door was pushed open and Lt. Stone entered the room. Apt to his name, Lt. Stone's face was made of granite, not showing any sort of relief of Zack's being okay. Nothing friendly. As a matter of fact, as Zack watched him sit down, Lt. Stone seemed exhausted.

The older man already had little lines of crow's feet by his eyes. Now they looked like harsh lines etched into his face. Stubble spread over his chin, above his mouth. His hands shook briefly as he leaned forward and looked Zack in the eye.

Zack looked back at him.

Neither spoke.

Lt. Stone opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it again. He heaved a sigh through his nose, lowered his head, then when he lifted it again, was _the_ Lt. Stone. Was the man that had Bulk and Skull cowering in fear—not that _that_ was hard—was the man who looked at Zack with so much disgust and suspicion that Zack knew things around him was going to get so much worse.

"I have my guys on the scene," Lt. Stone said, voice gruff. "They're looking over everything to see if we can figure out what happened. But we already know what happened. There's been an accident that could've been avoided. You could've kept yourself from deciding to drink tonight but instead made a bad choice." He spread his hands. "I understand that. But there's another pressing matter that needs to be addressed."

Zack shook his head. "What now?" He murmured.

Lt. Stone lifted his hands from beneath the table to produce a bag. A bag Zack hadn't noticed he'd brought In. He strained to see what it was, but Lt. Stone kept it away from his gaze. Held it tightly in his large, meaty hand. He lifted his chin and looked Zack square in the eye.

"Within the wreckage…one of my officers found this." Lt. Stone held up a bag with EVIDENCE stamped on the front. Zack stared at it. His heart rammed in his chest before leaping into this throat. He wanted to throw up. Wanted to cry. Wanted to scream.

Wanted anything but to be in the same room with Lt. Stone staring into his eyes as he waved Zack's blood splattered power morpher back and forth.

* * *

 **A/N:** As per usual, I'm back after a long absence. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll update again soon.

 **~Av**


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

* * *

Bailey sniffed quietly as she kicked her feet. She ignored the laughter and excitement around her as another day ended, the weekend looming closer. Couldn't focus on how happy she should have been to be away from them. No, she could only continue to sniff quietly, rubbing at her nose and eyes.

She sniffed loudly and used the heels of her palms to brush back the tears that freshly threatened to fall, twisting toward the window when she noticed the bus driver looking at her through the rearview mirror. Bailey, instead, decided to focus on the trees and houses that whizzed by, wringing her hands in her lap, careful not to smudge the dress that was her primary school uniform.

Her mother would be annoyed, her father would be furious if she wasn't spick and span. Not outwardly, she'd learned that ages ago—he rarely got mad at her—but she always had to look presentable. What did looking presentable matter if people weren't going to like you anyway?

Finally, the bus stopped. Bailey lifted her head, peering out towards the stop. Her heart sank and lifted at the same time when she spotted her sister dutifully waiting for her. Avalon waved at Bailey through the bus and moved to greet her at the door as Bailey slowly dragged herself from her seat.

She brushed down the back of her skirt and slowly climbed off the bus, putting on a brave face the best she could. Avalon saw through it in a second. Her arms open wide for the enthusiastic hug Bailey would typically assault her with was nowhere to be found. Avalon's eyes narrowed, arms dropping to her sides.

"What's wrong, Bay?" She asked, putting her hand on her baby sister's shoulder. Bailey lowered her chin, but Avalon forced it up, noticing the tears that clung to her baby sister's eyelashes. "What happened?"

"Um…" Bailey shuffled her feet. She tugged at the bottom of her dress, pressed the toes of her shoes together, spun her hair around her fingers. "Nothing, really."

"I'm not an bloody idiot, Bay. Don't treat me like one." Avalon's harsh tone immediately turned calm. "Something's upset you, yeah? What happened?"

Bailey sighed heavily, tilting her head back to look her sister in the eye. "I don't have any friends," She practically wailed. Tears wilted at her eyes once more. "No one likes me and they keep…they keep calling me a know-it-all, and that I'm a nerd and that they don't want to be friends with me because I'm not cool." She lowered her chin once more. "And these girls, they keep making me do their homework for them."

"What?"

Bailey nodded.

"They say I can't muck it up or else they'll get back at me and—" Bailey looked up once more when Avalon tightened her grasp on her sister's shoulder. Avalon's eyes flashed, her eyes locking onto the bus as more and more students came off the bus. Bailey looked over her shoulder at the girls then back to Avalon, practically burying her face in her sister's uniform; the button down, tie, and skirt she'd be wearing in a few years. Avalon's hand continued to increase in pressure along Bailey's shoulder. "Av, you're hurting me," Bailey whined, squirming to get from Avalon's grasp.

Instead of responding to her little sister, Avalon commanded for Bailey to 'stay here' as she moved toward the girls on the bus. Bailey watched, eyes wide as Avalon marched to the three of them and said something Bailey couldn't hear. Bailey's face screwed up, watching the girls' face light up, any attention from an older student was always good attention. They spoke for a few moments before they frowned, shaking their heads, tossing their eyes in Bailey's direction.

They shook their heads harder.

Finally, Avalon motioned for the girls to follow her and—exchanging worried looks—they followed her around the corner and out of sight. Things were silent for a few seconds before Bailey and those still at the bus stop jumped, hearing squeals of pain, something falling, and a scuffle before Avalon calmly walked out from around the corner, lifting her backpack up her shoulder.

Bailey stared at her in wide eyed wonder as Avalon approached. "What happened?" She asked, turning when Avalon put her arm around her shoulders and nudged her in the direction of home. Bailey looked over her shoulder to see if she could see the girls and, when seeing nothing, faced forward once more.

"Nothing," Avalon replied calmly. "But they won't bother you again." She dropped her hand from Bailey's shoulder and rubbed the knuckles of her right hand before putting it back.

Bailey simply smiled back and continued smiling for the rest of the night, even when her father reminded her she needed to keep her uniform clean and presentable at all times. It didn't matter what'd happen after that, her big sister would be there to save her.

But in the hospital that night, years later, Avalon could do nothing to save her sister. She couldn't storm into an operating room and demand what was going on. Couldn't threaten the doctors to continue working on her sister to make sure she was getting the best treatment. Couldn't look for the person that had hurt her and beat him up—he was too busy being interrogated.

And what do you do when it's your friend that managed to put her in that situation? One of the best friends you'd ever had? One of the best, happiest people you'd ever met who, unknown to him, you envied because he was able to go through life with the best intentions, the biggest smile, and an excitement for what life had to offer?

She knew it was only a matter of time until she was asked about what she knew of that night. What she knew of the party going on. And she was of two minds of what to say. The truth; that she knew of the drinking, that she'd been tempted to take part of it considering how often she used to drink with the rest of the Vipers, how she'd wanted to shield her sister and her sister's boyfriend from it by basically locking them in a room and forcing them to only watch TV and play video games?

But there was the other side of her that wanted Zack to pay for what he'd done. That wanted him to understand his actions had consequences. How she saw him drinking for most of the night, how she'd told him that it was a bad idea, how she sat by and watched as he continued to get sucked in by the attention Angela and her friends were all giving to him.

Attention that she and the rest of the rangers never really received. Angela, and her friends, were popular. Whatever they said went, whatever fashion choices washed through high school in a tidal wave was because of them. She and the rest of the rangers were popular in their own right—not that Avalon would admit that for herself—with teachers, with some of the lesser known students, with the teammates on their sports teams, but nothing so much as what Angela was able to do.

It didn't surprise her that Zack managed to get swept up in the whole thing when Angela finally turned around. You do strange and weird things, things out of character, for the people you love.

How out of character would it be if Avalon told everyone the truth?

She sucked in a deep breath, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her mascara trailed down her cheeks in ugly streaks, skin blotchy from how hard she'd been crying, from how hard she'd clenched her jaw to hold back the anger she wanted to burst forward. Hair was a mess from how often she dragged her hand through it, heart hurt simply because she couldn't hold her sister's hand and let her know she was going to be okay.

And yet, she had to keep going, just in case she was to wake up.

Avalon left the bathroom, continuing to wipe the drying tears from her face, nearly bumping into Tommy, who leaned against the wall next to her. "You don't have to wait for me," she said. Tommy barely looked at her as he shrugged. "You need to get checked out," she added.

At that, Tommy shook his head. He let out an explosive breath, almost a bark of laughter. "I'm fine," he said. "Nothing happened to me." He gripped the front of his t-shirt. "It's not my blood. And besides, why do I need them to look me over when they're going to find out that I was as drunk as the rest of them." His bloodshot eyes proved it was true, though Avalon knew it could've been from how hard he'd been crying as well.

Tommy wasn't as obvious a crier as his friends were. There had been many moments throughout their ranger tenure that they lost friends, _thought_ they lost friends, were purely so exhausted there was nothing left for them to do but let out their stress by crying and screaming. Kimberly and Trini cried. Billy turned away as he wiped tears from his eyes. Zack would simply bow his head and let the tears fall when no one would see him, but would never deny it if anyone was asked. Bailey would bury her face into Avalon's or Tommy's sides, always embarrassed by the emotion she showed. Avalon would wait until she was utterly alone before crying.

Jason and Tommy…Jason and Tommy were the ones who had to be the strongest amongst their friends. They had to be the leader and show they could move on. So, they channeled their frustrations into their training. Day after day they'd meet up at the Youth Center or the Command Center and work out their hardest spar hard enough it looks like they were really fighting each other, toed that thin line between pulling punches and beating each other up.

But now, in the hospital, Tommy was breaking down.

He was broken.

Avalon could see it, when no one else could. If anyone passed the two teenagers, they would see the teen girl who looked simultaneously heartbroken and angry. If they saw the teenage boy, they would've seen a boy who was numb, or didn't seem to know where he was.

And yet, Avalon knew Tommy was moments away from breaking down. The love of his life was hurt more than any of them had ever seen, and his friends had been caught in the crossfire as well. His jaw continuously warbled, going back and forth from a silent whimper to clenching his jaw. He continuously sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

"What happened, Tommy?" She asked. Her eyes searched the side of his face. "What'd you hear?" Tommy merely shook his head. "I know something's wrong, what happened?"

And Tommy parted his lips and started to explain. Parted his lips and explained everything he'd heard while she was in the bathroom. Explained how he'd been waiting for her when doctors and nurses walked by, scrubs splattered with blood. Looking exhausted.

They were talking quietly, but hadn't noticed him hanging out there. He was where he shouldn't have been, the two wandering around after having been looked over themselves, questioned by doctors. They didn't notice him and they spoke quietly about the friends that had been brought in; the hospital jumping to attention once they received so many victims.

Whiplash.

Head injuries.

Broken bones.

Internal bleeding.

Knee trauma.

He didn't know who had what injury, the only identifies of 'he' or 'she' spoken. No names.

And as Tommy explained, Avalon's hands slowly clenched into fists. Her hands shook, nails dug into her palms so hard that they bled, jaw clenched so tightly she immediately got a headache. Multiple injuries, internal bleeding, trauma…

She couldn't tell which was worse, what would be the best-case scenario for her baby sister when, truthfully, there was nothing good about any of it. When she could do nothing to protect her. Then a second thought came to her, how selfish she was being. She had no idea if any of her friends, if the people she loved…

Avalon turned from Tommy.

She couldn't bear to look at him.

Not when she saw the tears that finally, feely flowed down his cheeks.

Their leader was breaking down.

And if he couldn't take it, no one could.

* * *

All that was going on while word spread back at the part that someone was hurt. While the rangers' parents raced to the hospital to see what had happened to their children. While Alpha and Zordon watched through the Viewing Globe, unable to contact their friends without potentially giving away their identities if called.

All the while Zack was being interrogated over whether he was a Power Ranger.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, you probably want to know why my chapters for stories like this are shorter than the ones I do for my main series and it's simply because, I'm writing it differently. I'm writing to provoke emotion and devastation, and I'm also not trying to overcomplicate things. I want to get to true human emotion and I think it's working well.

 **~Av**


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

* * *

"I think she may be waking up soon."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She's responded well to any and all of the tests we've given. Eyes dilate and contract with light, there isn't any sign of a coma, she can wake up. She just needs to do it on her own time. But trauma like this…it's not something she's going to come back from so easily."

"Such a pretty girl, it's a shame what happened."

"I'm not talking about her face, I'm talking about everything else. These kids…man, they're just kids. They're too young to be coming into the hospital like this. They're too young to be drinking and throwing their lives away like this. Why would she do something like that."

"Peer pressure. All the same things we were dealing with, they're dealing with too. Maybe on a bigger scale. They worry so much about being cool and having the same interests, about being the same in everything they do. They can't be individuals anymore. They all have to be the same person, like they learn everything with osmosis or something."

"Not these kids."

"You've heard of them?"

"Oh, they're in the news all the time. That Cranston kid, I know their parents. Well known professors. It's their place up there that they were staying at. Partying at. And the rest of these guys, they're always doing _good._ I see them in the newspaper and the news all the time."

"Maybe they were using the night to blow off some steam."

"There are other ways to do that."

"You sound like you're taking it personally."

"I always do when I see kids this young make stupid decisions that'll ruin their lives. It's such a shame. She's so pretty."

Silence stretched through the room.

The doctors left.

Kimberly's eyelids fluttered. The doctors were wrong. She wasn't just waking up. She'd been awake. Time passed at such odd intervals for her. One moment, she would think she'd been asleep for hours, or even years, and only a few minutes had passed. One minute she was drinking and hanging out with her friends, and the next thing she knew, she was trying to crawl her way out of an overturned car and screaming hysterically, finding herself pinned in place.

Screaming because she couldn't find her friends. Screamed because no one was responding to her. Screaming because of the pain. The pain was unable to bear. It's what continued to knock her out. The pain that exploded in her head every time she moved. That knocked her out every few seconds before she came to and had to face what happened all over again.

The panic struck her, the reality of how painful it truly was. She'd been hurt before, before she had her powers. She'd been particularly bullied by Sharkie and had been shoved into lockers and down the stairs. It was before she had truly learned to stick up for herself. She was "tiny but mighty" as her mom said, and once she figured that out, she fought back against Sharkie, using her size and lithe agility to get away from her. Then, of course, there were the times she'd injured herself with her numerous gymnastics practices and competitions. She'd pulled muscles, torn ligaments, broken bones, popped her shoulders and hips out of place, stubbed toes, bruised numerous parts of her body and worked herself to exhaustion all for a sport she loved with all her heart.

That didn't come close to the pain of being a ranger.

When being a ranger, the pain that came to her was more emotional. It was painful how angry and worried she was when they didn't beat a monster the first time. It was painful how heart rendering it was that they had to see their home continuously get destroyed by the large monsters and by their own Megazord day by day. Painful to see those that evacuated to return to their jobs and homes damaged from everything they'd done. Heart wrenching to see the faces of those that had been injured or had family members injured from the attacks.

That was the point, wasn't it? To save their city, sacrifices had to be made.

But it still hurt.

Kimberly opened her eyes and looked around the darkened hospital room. No roommate. Figures. But her mother…why wasn't her mother there? Surely, she'd found a way to get to her only daughter, to see her. To fight tooth and nail. Or was she just too busy with her new boyfriend, as she always seemed to be? It wasn't that Kimberly didn't like him but…

That wasn't the point. She tried to sit up, tried to move, then winced, feeling the lightning bolt of pain hit her. Kimberly groaned quietly, whimpered. Saw flashes of what'd happened. Saw the headlights that swamped over them, saw the absolute terror on Tommy's face, saw the shards of glass jolting toward her in slow motion before everything went black.

Kimberly brought hand up to her forehead, wincing when it struck a stitch filled… _something_. Felt the worse pain she'd ever experienced at her nose and around her eyes. Felt it with a swell of her chest as she breathed, making her slam her eyes shut and a whimper of pain to escape her lips. She wished Tommy was there, able to hold her hand and let her know everything was going to be okay. Another whimper hit her, her mind shifting back to her boyfriend and her friends.

But she couldn't cry, not yet. Not until…

She had to see.

Kimberly twisted her head aside, looking for any reflective surface, and found a tray sitting next to her bed. Whether it was a tray that held medical instruments or food she was supposed to have, she wasn't sure. But it was enough.

With a shaking hand, Kimberly took a deep breath and moved the tray closer to her body. She rested it in her lap, her shaking fingers making it wiggle and jump around, threatening to clatter to the floor. She took in a deep breath to steady herself. To calm her nerves. She's gone up against some of the fiercest monsters and aliens and villains and was able to do it with a brave face and feeling the most confident she'd ever had.

Why was it that, looking in a mirror, something she did on a daily basis, was scaring her so badly?

Because of the reality of what happened. And that reality smacked her in the face when she finally allowed herself to bring up the tray and steady it in the dim light, angled it so that she was able to look at her reflection.

The second she looked at herself, taking in the messy hair that'd been thrown back into a bun, bangs smoothed back from her forehead, a stitched gash across her forehead, a black eye, a bruised nose, a split lip, tiny cuts in her face where—she thought—glass had pockmarked her skin, a neck brace, and whatever else was hidden beneath her hospital gown and the hospital blankets, Kimberly cried.

But it wasn't because of the pain, despite the pain that shot through her ribs every time she took in a breath or even moved a fraction of an inch. And it wasn't because of how hideous she thought the hospital gown was and felt there was a lot that could be done to make it look more fabulous. (Though a tiny, tiny part of her thought she could probably make some sort of comment to the hospital staff).

And it wasn't because she felt she looked ugly, that wasn't why she was crying.

No, she was crying because the reality of everything was hitting her. The reality of her friends' lives in danger. The reality that, even with the fantastic powers they were given to help save their city, their Earth, and everyone in it…they were still human.

They made mistakes.

And they paid for it.

* * *

 **A/N:** I originally intended for this chapter to be put up yesterday, but I unexpectedly got called into work. But I hope you enjoy it and I'll definitely have it updated sooner than I have been as of late.

 **~Av**


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

* * *

Trini clutched her mother's hand tightly as she was led through the colorful, twisting walls of the hallways that led to her kindergarten classroom. Her long pigtails brushed against her shoulders as she bounced along. She looked over her shoulder, looking for her dad. But then turned to face forward once more, knowing her father was going to be at work and would miss her first day of kindergarten.

Trini looked up at her mother once more and smiled brightly, while Mrs. Kwan gave a tight-lipped smile in response. Trini giggled quietly to herself, knowing how nervous her mother was. It was why she asked so many questions when they were out the door that morning. All questioned in Vietnamese, which Trini quickly rattled off her own childlike version of it.

"Do you remember how to tie your shoes?"

"Yes, mommy."

"And how to ask to go to the bathroom"

"Yes, mommy."

"And your colors and numbers?"

And Trini continued to laugh and giggle as her mother continued to ask her questions. It was the first time they'd really be apart. Her mother had even worked at her preschool for a short time as a class aide, helping her daughter whenever needed. Now Trini was at the age of going to school by herself while her mother went back to work.

Her father was much more relaxed about everything, quizzing her on her numbers and colors in a playful way. Pretending to think as he thought of a number he wanted her to start at and start counting. Sometimes throwing in questions of multiplication and counting by twos, threes, and fours, all the while Trini sat on his lap and looked at her father with utmost adoration.

She was ready for school. And ready to have fun and make new friends. And learn new things. She loved to learn new things. Always asked for new books at the library when she and her mother would take their weekly trips for new things to read.

So much so that while she wasn't running around and screaming like all the other students in her classroom—Trini peered around her mother's legs to watch them as they arrived—Trini was eager to let go of her mother's hand and walk into the room, confident and ready to start everything that kindergarten had to offer.

After speaking with her daughter's teacher, Mrs. Kwan knelt by her daughter's side and smoothed back her hair, making sure her handlebar pigtails were in place, tightening the yellow scrunchies that held them together. Then she smoothed down Trini's white top and yellow shorts, brushed off her yellow socks, and dusted minute specs of dust from her white shoes. Everything to look perfect.

"You're going to have a good day, Trini," Mrs. Kwan said, in continued Vietnamese. Trini beamed, bouncing lightly on her toes, finding any place for her energy to go. "Learn lots of things. I want to hear about it all when I pick you up. Okay?"

"Okay!" Trini threw her arms around her mother's neck. "I love you, mommy."

"I love you, too."

Trini waved to her mother before venturing further into the classroom, her backpack bobbing against her back as she did so. Her teacher found her and walked her to the cubbies where each student had space to hang up their backpacks and put in their lunchboxes to be used for later before she left Trini to help another student who had suddenly started wailing loudly, after having fallen to his knees.

Trini looked over, training her neck to see what happened. She was so engrossed in the crying that she hadn't noticed another little girl—all decked out in pink—come up beside her. She looked over the scene then said to Trini, face screwed up in concern, "I hope he's okay."

"Yeah," Trini agreed. "I wonder what happened."

The girl waved her hand. "That's Bulk, he always cries when his mom drops him off." She then blinked and stood back, looking Trini up and down. Her eyes widened and she clasped her hands over her mouth. Trini blinked at her curiously. "Pigtails!" The girl in pink squealed. She reached up and grabbed onto her own handlebars, gently tugging her head back and forth before beaming. All traces of concern for the fallen boy gone. "So cute!" She pressed her thumb into her chest. "I'm Kimberly Ann Hart."

Trini waved, slinging her hand back and forth. The girl had a lot of enthusiasm, she noted. The same sort of enthusiasm her mother wouldn't always let her show. If she started to get too exuberant, she was shushed and reminded it was better to be seen and not heard. That her excellence in her activities was to bring attention to herself, not her voice.

It didn't bother Trini too much. She liked silence. She liked being able to sit back and take in everything that was to take in. It brought her closer to…to everything, in that sense. There was something about seeing the world in a different way in that aspect that made it fun for her.

But something about this girl's excitement, she couldn't ignore. "I'm Trini."

"Come sit with me!" Kimberly grabbed Trini's hand and walked her toward one of the tables set up in the room with tiny chairs for all the students. Trini shrugged and followed her, with a simple, "Okay."

They sat down in the two chairs, knees knocking against each other as they swayed back and forth, giggling quietly to each other. "So, like, how old are you?" Kimberly tucked her hair behind her ears, showing off the tiny pink studs in her ears and the matching bracelet around her wrist.

"I'm five," Trini replied.

Kimberly's mouth dropped open, eyes widening further as if she'd never heard the news before. "No way! So am I?"

"What's your favorite color?" Trini asked.

"Pink!" Kimberly stuck out her chest with pride. "I love it!" She ran her hands over her hair once more, tousling the strands that hadn't moved from before. "I have pink everything. My entire room is pink. My mom says it's because I was born on Valentine's Day. My dad says it's just because I'm so girly."

Trini giggled quietly.

"But you like yellow, right?" Kimberly added. She held up her fingers in the peace sign. "That's my second favorite color!" She curled her hands over the edge of her seat, kicking her legs back and forth. "We were so meant to be friends."

"I agree." Trini smiled and nodded. She looked around the room, taking in the rest of the kids that was going to be her classmates. 'Bulk' was still crying loudly while their teacher tried to consol him, a smaller, wiry boy stood next to him, laughing a weird snorting laugh, only stopping when 'Bulk' smacked him on the thigh.

On the other side of the room was a boy all dressed in black and purple, bouncing back and forth in some sort of dance move he was showing off to a boy dressed in red, who stood casually aside, hands resting on the waistband of his pants. When the boy in black/purple stopped dancing around, the boy in red started to throw his leg up in the air, in high kicks to the wide grinned approval of his friend.

Trini craned her neck and continued to look around, stopping when she spotted a smaller blonde-haired, blue-eyed, bespectacled boy who sat nearby, routinely pressing his glasses up his nose as he looked down at the table, slowly kicking his legs back and forth. Every few seconds, he'd lift his chin to look around the room, then lower his head once more.

"Hi," Trini waved to him. "I'm Trini."

The boy looked at her, pushed his glasses up his nose, lifted his hand with a tiny smile, then dropped it once more, shoulders rounding out.

"Oh, that's Billy." Kimberly leaned over, pressing her hand to the side of her mouth and not-quite-whispered, "He's a little shy." Billy's nose wrinkled, mouth puckered as if he didn't enjoy the description Kimberly used on him. "He's really smart, though. He, like, already knows multiplication and everything. We're not supposed to learn that until third grade."

"I know it, too," Trini said, modestly. Kimberly and Billy both looked at her with wide eyes. "My parents taught me."

"Oh, well, you think you can help me sometime?" Kimberly asked.

"Of course." Trini leaned forward to speak to Billy. "Do you want to help, too?"

Billy looked over his shoulders, eyes widening. Then he reached up and pointed toward himself. "Me?"

"Mhm." Trini got up and walked over to Billy's table, sitting next to him. "I really like math. What about you?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Um, I like math," he said. His voice was low, soft. Slowly warming and becoming louder to make sure "And science. I like to make new things." He shrugged modestly. "I learned how vacuums work."

"You did?"

"Mhm. I took my mother's vacuum apart." He blushed. "I don't really know how to put it back together."

"I can help," Trini offered.

Kimberly flopped into the seat on Billy's other side, not wanting to be left out. "Me, too!" Billy looked at her skeptically. "I want to help my best friends."

Trini smiled and nodded.

…

..

.

Best friends. The best friends Trini could've ever asked for. Best friends she didn't know she'd ever have, stepping into the kindergarten classroom that day. Best friends that she would do anything for. Just as she'd done that night. She wanted to have as much fun as they did, but also wanted to keep them safe. It was what drove her to follow them out to the car, begging them to let her drive.

"Trini, I know what I'm doing," Jason said as they approached the driver's side door. He pulled his hand back as she reached for the keys, stumbling a little as he did so. He wasn't as drunk as the others, hadn't drunk nearly as much, but for someone who hardly drank at all, Trini hadn't been surprised to find he was a lightweight. "I can drive."

Trini shook her head, her long hair batting her in the face as she did so. "It's not a good idea."

"Just relax, I'll be careful."

"We'll be more careful if you stay here. Let me do it." She reached for the keys, but once more Jason held them from her grasp. For a moment, Trini thought of taking him on, beating him up to take the keys back from him.

Decided against it.

She could probably take him down, knew his fighting style well enough to know the tricks that would have him landing flat on his back. But there was also the fact that, no matter how strong she became, Jason was still a male and still stood many inches over her and weighed many pounds heavier than her. If he wanted to, he could take her down without a care in the world.

She never thought he would but…who knew what would happen in his inebriated state? As if having the same thought, he'd stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, surprising her with the affection, before tilting her head up so she looked him in the eye. "Everything will be fine, I promise. If I start to feel woozy, I'll pull over and let you drive, okay?"

Trini searched his eyes, seeing nothing but sincerity in them.

It was then that all her friends, her drunken friends, started to hoot and holler at her, demanding she let Jason drive because she was, "Ruining all the fun." Trini nodded. But she would go with them.

She had no idea how it happened that Zack was then climbing behind the driver's seat, but he couldn't be talked out of it. Had she known what was to happen, she would've fought harder for all of her friends to stay at the house and not worry about drinking any further.

But she still went.

She wanted to protect her friends.

And she was paying the price for it.

"We need to stop the bleeding," the surgeon said, his voice, muffled by the blood splattered mask over his face, holding more concern than what was professionally given. "She doesn't have much time left." His tired eyes glanced around at the team bustling with him. "I'm not going to lose her!"

"She's already lost so much blood," the surgical assistant reminded him. Unlike the concern in his voice, her voice was more to the point. Straightforward. No matter what, if anything did happen, they'd follow the same routine afterward. They'd make some sort of a joke, anything to brighten the situation, to make their jobs that much easier. To distant themselves, to do _anything_ to just get by. "I'm not sure how much more we can do."

The surgeon looked at the rest of his team; the surgical technologist, the radiographer, the anesthesiologist, and the nurse. All whom he'd worked with in many surgeries before. All who'd he'd spent countless hours with, in and out of the surgical room. He trusted that team more than he trust his own family. Probably saw them more than his own family.

A family he had the privilege of going to home every night.

He looked back at the patient in front of him. Her face was bloated with swelling, trauma from having struck whatever it was that had injured her in the car crash. But he could still see the beauty within her, the silent strength that seemed to radiate from her in spades.

He looked at her, watched her, imagined the life she had. He couldn't imagine her being a drinker. The toxicology reports proved she hadn't drunk a single drop. But she'd still gotten in the car along with the others. A potentially fatal mistake. Being sober, compared to the rest, made her tense up upon the moment of impact. One of the biggest mistakes to be made, those that were the most drunk got away with less injuries, their bodies turning liquid and wobbly due to the inebriation.

It was as the saying went; why did bad things have to happen to good people?

The surgeon took one look at his team again, saw the defeat in their eyes, and shook his head. "We have to keep trying," he said. "I'm not going to call it until it needs to be called. I'm going to save this one."

He was going to do everything he could to get Trini back to her family and friends.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, though most of my Powerless stories so far, it seems that I really like to torture Trini. I promise it's all coincidence. But there's something to be said for someone who does everything right and has the worst happen to her. She's strong and can come back from anything, but we'll see if she can come back from this.

Thank you all for still sticking around with me. I'm working to focus on this story and _Shattered Grid_ to update for a while so I can get further in them before working on some of my other stories. At least this one so far, I may jump back into _Headstrong_ but we'll see. I hope you're all ready for the next one as well.

 **~Av**


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

* * *

Jason's head swam as he tried to listen to what the doctors were telling him. He could hardly keep it up, it seemed to slosh back and forth with the waves moving through his head with every slight movement. He was drunk, he knew that. Or maybe just hungover.

He was in the hospital.

He knew that.

He had some sort of a leg injury.

He knew that.

He could feel the throbbing below his knee cap, a familiar feeling from his martial arts training. The many times he'd felt his knee go one way and his leg the other. Not to mention the sort of thumping and banging around that was a daily occurrence from fighting putties and the like. How many times had he ended up in a doctor's office or a hospital to get some sort of cast or surgery put on a body part. Because of a sprain, because of a pulled muscle, because of swollen joints, because of a torn ACL, because of a broken bone? Too many times to count. Too many hospital bills to think about, bills that his parents whispered about so that they didn't worry him. Not that he had to worry _too_ much, his parents' jobs made it so that they were able to afford it easily.

But could they afford this? The emotional pain? The mental pain? The mental anguish of not only knowing they let their son go off on a trip without any parental supervision, something they were worried about in the first place. But to then know their only child had gotten into some sort of an accident where not only he, but all of his best friends were hurt in some way, and he was drunk and…

And they didn't know anything.

All Jason knew was that when he woke up, is parents were by his side, his leg was elevated, his knee was swollen, and he couldn't say anything to his parents. Every slight movement made that wave slosh through his heard that nearly knocked him over, every breath made his tongue even drier, sticking to his teeth and tongue. Every time he breathed, he could taste the foul taste of that dry mouth and the aftertaste of beer stuck to everything. And every time so much as twitched, nausea rolled through him, leaving a sour taste in his mouth that threatened to come out.

And yet, there was his mom, leaning by his side, lovingly running a hand over his hair just as she used to do when he was a young child. She murmured quietly, continuing to run her fingers through his hair, she smiled widely, seeing he was slowly starting to wake up. It was then he saw his father's face come into view, and it scared him.

Scared him more than anything he'd seen when morphing to take down a monster. Because his father was crying. He'd never seen his father cry before. Had never seen the strongest man that Jason had ever known to break down into tears, not even with the ailments that befell his grandparents, or even when his uncle had to go into rehab for his drug addiction. And what made everything worse for Jason, was that he was the cause of it.

The cause of the disappointment and fear that made his father burst out into tears. Jason felt his own eyes prick and tears well up when he spotted his father leaning over to him to give him a relieved hug, tugging Jason's mother into his embrace and the three hugged. Jason reached up his arm, could only move it as far as his elbow would allow, tried not to tug out the IV that stuck in the crook of his elbow, tried not to pull off the heart monitor attached to his fingertip, and pressed his hand to his mother's arm, allowing the embrace.

The three held onto each other for a long time. As long as it took for his mother's audible sobs of relief to subside, as long for the nurse to hover around them and check Jason's vitals in the small space he had to get around the grieving family. Jason brought up his other arm, finding that it wasn't attached to anything medical, and grasped his parents with more force than he thought possible. They thought they'd lost him...and yet Jason risked losing his parents that night. In the back of his head, he knew they would've disapproved on his actions. Knew they would've said it was a bad idea that they were just trying to experiment. Kids will be kids. But he went along with it anyway.

What had made him go along with it?

An almost memory of teasing, gentle prodding, then harsh words reached his ears. An argument of some sort? He could see a scowl on Zack's face. That was it. A scowl. And maybe some bad words. Had he fought with Zack? Is that what started everything? It wasn't that he and Zack hard argued before, they certainly had. But if it were something like this, it was a different kind of argument. He could feel it in his bones. Almost as much as his worry for Zack. If Zack wasn't in the chair next to him, grinning and cracking jokes and making sure everything was alright, then something had seriously gone wrong.

"We're going to have to prep you for surgery soon," the doctor said, standing aside with Jason's chart. He looked to the nurse and nodded in confirmation. "There's just too much damage to his knee, not to mention previous scar tissue, that if we don't get him in as soon as possible, he may lose his leg."

"What?" Mrs. Scott whirled around to face the doctor. Her tears dried almost instantly at the news. "He's going to lose his leg?"

"I didn't say for sure he'd lose it, I said he _may_ lose it," the doctor said calmly. If not a little harshly.

He couldn't help but do so, angered that this was happening to such a young teen, but also due to the fact that he had a no-nonsense job, and worked through patients like this on a daily basis. Only to wash his hands of it, go home, and live his own life. The point being he couldn't take any of it home or else he couldn't move forward.

His bedside manner wasn't the best, but at least he told the truth. It was consistently written in comments on his performance. And it was a surprise to see how much damage Jason had sustained in such a short life. He got the information from his parents, he was a martial artist, and that explained some things. It explained how he was so strong for a young man his age.

But it didn't _quite_ explain everything he needed to know. Like, why he was _so_ healthy. How he had so many injuries that didn't seem to bother him. How he almost seemed to be bouncing back from the accident with no residual pain. Any other person who came into the hospital with a leg they were almost certain to lose would certainly be in more pain.

But Jason sat there calmly, watching as the doctor and nurse spoke around him. His mind was elsewhere. On his friends. On Zordon and Alpha. If his parents were here, then all the parents had to have known, had to have come.

Had to be more than disappointed.

"Why?"

The question caught Jason off-guard. He looked to the side, suddenly seeing that his room was empty save for his parents. That the doctor and nurse had gotten everything they needed and had swept away as quickly as they'd came. That his father's one-word question was harshly directed at him. Jason watched his father's eyebrows come together, swallowed the sour taste in his mouth, tried to get something wet on his tongue.

There was no saliva to be found. He struggled to speak, and his mother quickly grabbed water from the table beside him and put it to Jason's lips. His lips stung with the icy cold of the water at first, form the temperature and from his dry lips splitting. Jason winced then cracked open his mouth for a little bit of water to go in. He took a few grateful swallows and turned back to his dad, eyebrows coming together. Silently prompted him to continue.

"Why?" Mr. Scott repeated. "'Why did you do it?"

Oh. That 'why?'. Why did he drink? Why did he drive? Why did he not use his head? Why was he such a disappointment?

His father had never said that, said he was a disappointment, but Jason knew that was what he was really asking. Why did he have to give up everything he had over a stupid mistake? A mistake that Jason had been warned about for years.

"It was an accident," Jason murmured, finally finding his voice.

"It was an accident for you to drink?"

"Caine," Mrs. Scott warned.

But Mr. Scott continued. "It was an accident for you to drive? Did you _accidentally_ pick up the keys and keep going? Keep driving until you hurt someone?"

"Stop it!" Mrs. Scott snapped.

"There were so many other choices you could've made. We trusted you. And you broke that trust. But now…it's not just that you broke the trust, it's that you hurt your friends. Did you know that?"

Mrs. Scott stood up and grabbed her husband's arm. She pulled him away to the corner of the room where they spoke in low, harsh tones. But Jason knew what it was they were arguing about. The words got stuck in his head. His friends were hurt. And judging by his father's reaction, more hurt than he was.

He was lucky. He was unlucky.

His life would never be the same.

He should've listened to Trini.

He made a mistake.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello again. I've missed you all! It took me a little bit to get back to this. But now we've seen what happened with Jason. Thanks for your guys' patience as I slowly continue to chug away with this story!

 **~Av**


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

* * *

"Tell us the truth."

"I am telling you the truth."

Zack wrung his hands together as Lt. Stone took in a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. He watched Zack as long as Zack watched him. Zack's eyes repeatedly bounced from Lt. Stone's face to the floor, to the walls, to the ceiling, to Lt. Stone then back to the the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. Over and over in a sort of ping-pong match, his eyes unable to hold still as it continued to bounce.

Lt. Stone folded his arms, settling further in his seat. He took in another deep breath and settled himself to watch the black ranger once more. Or, who he was sure was the black ranger. Zack did his best not to look at the power morpher that sat between them, trying not to put too much attention to it just in case Lt. Stone was paying close attention.

Or, maybe, it was what was making Lt. Stone stare at him. That he was being so obvious not to look at the power morpher that he _should've_ been looking at so that Lt. Stone _didn't_ think he was a power ranger. Zack let out a low moan and placed his forehead in his hands. His head was killing him, and he wasn't quite sure it was the hangover he was nursing that was doing it.

He practically had a heart attack when he saw the power morpher in front of him. Not just because of the blood splattered on it. Though that had been a shot through the heart as well. He had no idea whose blood it was. And that was the worst part. He didn't know whose blood it was, he didn't know how his friends were and, at that point, he probably never would.

That is, if he continued to be detained as he was.

"Zack," Lt. Stone said slowly. "We need to get to the truth of what happened tonight," he said. "And the truth will make more sense once we figure out the truth of _this_." He tapped the power morpher through the baggie it was stuck within. Zack winced with each tap of Lt. Stone's fingertip, wondering if there was going to be some sort of power surge that would shoot through him.

There was always a sort of power that shot through them whenever they morphed. How different would it be if there was some sort of damage that came to the morpher? Actually, he'd seen that, too. There were so many things he and his friends had gone through; evil rangers, the evilest monsters they'd ever faced, certain death, brainwashing, separation and desperation. But it was knowing his friends would still be there, with him on the other side that made it easy to deal with those things.

This time around, he didn't know if they'd be there on the other side.

If they'd ever talk to him again.

He wouldn't blame them if they never did. Not after…well, he wasn't sure all he did, but there was enough that made it so he'd never forgive himself. _You're not worthy of forgiveness._ Zack shook his head, kept his face in his hands. _Not after this._ He removed his face from his hands and looked Lt. Stone in the eye.

"I don't know where that came from," he murmured. A solid lie he'd been telling himself and others for years. That he didn't know the Power Rangers. That he didn't know it was him and his friends who'd been running around and saving their city for as long as he could remember.

"Then why was it in your car?"

"I don't know!"

"Zack, I'm trying to help you, here."

"No, you're trying to get me to admit to something I don't know." Zack shook his head, then winced, regretting it immediately. He looked at the morpher once more and clamped his lips together. Big mistake. The splatters of the blood made his stomach lurch so hard to the left that he couldn't even breath without thinking he was going to puke. "I don't know anything about the power rangers. I don't know how that got into my car. I don't know—"

"—I don't know how you can continue on saying you don't know," Lt. Stone interrupted. His voice was measured, but Zack could see the level of emotion that welled up in his eyes. Zack's eyebrows furrowed. He'd never seen the lieutenant act that way in his life. Even when he was around Bulk and Skull—who could be very trying on _anyone's_ nerves—didn't get him to break his façade unless they managed to do something so neurotic that he broke and rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you can sit here and tell me to my face that you don't know anything about being a power ranger when..." he cleared his throat. "When it's probably the only thing that's keeping you alive."

What?

Zack lifted his head.

Lt. Stone shook his head. "If you tell me you're a power ranger, I can tell you that it makes sense. That it's something that will make sense of everything that I've seen tonight." Zack shook his head once more. It wasn't a shaking head to show his displeasure. It was a shaking head for Lt. Stone to clarify. What did he mean? Lt. Stone picked up on it immediately. It was the nature of the man's job to understand the little intricacies of people's faces, to know what it meant when an expression changed ever so slightly. Had to make it a point to see through the lies people placed in his hands to work out the truth. "I may as well have seen a zombie tonight."

"What do you mean?"

Lt. Stone started to laugh. A low laugh that started in his chest and came out in a loud burst that made Zack jump. It wasn't a good laugh, a humor filled laugh. It was a humorless one. One that seemed to only keep himself sane. His laughter slowly faded and he started to speak so rapidly, with so much emotion that Zack could barely hear him.

"I mean, the amount of damage these cars faced, it may as well have been a bomb going off. I've never seen an accident that bad and see people walk away without a scratch. And it's not like you don't have a scratch, you're injured. The rest of you are injured. But you should be dead. All of you. You hear me?" He leaned toward Lt. Stone. " _All of you should be dead._ You weren't drunk enough that the way the car crumpled around you, your bodies would've flopped around like rag dolls. The way that car looks, you should all be…all of you should be lying up in that hospital with your last breath. But you're sitting here with nothing…it doesn't make sense." He tapped the power morpher once more. "This…This makes sense."

No.

Zack squeezed his eyes shut.

Shook his head.

No.

"Yes," Lt. Stone insisted. "If you tell me the truth, I can make things easier for you."

"I…" Zack's mouth opened and closed. He couldn't find the words. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think of anything but what was being semi-told to him. That was being teased at him without coming right out and saying it. Maybe…maybe Lt. Stone was so traumatized that he couldn't even articulate the words. "No…" He sucked in a deep breath, then coughed with how sharp it was. "Oh.." The word escaped Zack's lips when the reality struck him. It hit him like a ton of bricks. Like a car crashing into a brick wall. Like…well…like it felt when he slammed on the brakes a moment too late—a lifetime too late—and crashed into the other. And…did something he'd never be able to recover from. "Oh, God…"

"Zack?"

Zack parted his lips, but no sound came out. He shook his head. No. It couldn't be true. And yet…he knew it was. There were too many times they've fought other monsters—the _real_ monsters—that had resulted in them having only cuts and bruises. Sometimes, the worst being a headache that lasted more than a few days, body aches that lasted a week, sometimes a concussion. Injuries that would've destroyed and otherwise normal person. That would've made any normal person killed in an instant, and they bounced back from it.

A car accident like they'd been through, if they were normal…

Zack had a feeling he knew what happened to Angela.

"Zack?"

Zack frowned. Why did that voice sound so familiar? It wasn't Lt. Stone's. The man's was gruff, bothered, worried. The voice calling him was much more worried, much more frantic. Much angrier.

"Where's my son?! You let me to my son _right now_!"

Zack whipped around, hearing his mother's voice drawing nearer and nearer. He only knew one person who's voice could come in loud and clear like that. There were only a few times Zack managed to hear that voice and not be afraid of the outcome of hearing it. And, for the first time in a long while, the anger in that voice wasn't directed towards him for something stupid he may have done in school, but _for_ him.

"You better get me my son right now!"

"Mom?" Zack twisted around, grasping the back of his seat. "Mom?" He raised his voice, looking for his mother. He leaned back and forth, straining to find his mother in the window. Finally, he saw her barreling towards him and sat up straight. "Mom!"

Mrs. Taylor burst through the door so hard that Zack was sure he saw Lt. Stone jump out of the corner of his eye before he was gathered up in his mother's strong grasp. Zack flung his arm around his mother's shoulders, craning his neck to place his face into her shoulders as the tears started to flow.

He grasped his mother tightly, tighter, tighter, feeling her squeeze him back. Felt his father's presence just after, felt him press a hand to the back of Zack's neck, giving him the reassurance Zack needed. His mother hummed quietly, rubbing his back.

"It's okay, baby. It's okay," Mrs. Taylor murmured. "We're here now. We're here, everything's going to be oaky."

Zack shook his head, started to say something, choked on his words. Couldn't speak around the pain that seized his heart and threatened to spill out everywhere. Zack lifted his gaze and looked up at his father through his watery eyes.

"Dad," he croaked.

Mr. Taylor swallowed hard.

 _"Hey mom," Zack greeted as he headed into his house via the door that lead to the kitchen. He went to his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hey, pop!" He patted his father on the shoulder, who grinned, turning away from his newspaper, looking at his watch._

 _"Zachary Taylor in time for dinner, never thought I'd see the day," Mr. Taylor teased. "Normally we can't drag you away from your friends."_

 _"Normally, I'd agree with you, but I've got some packing I need to do," Zack said. He leaned over his mother's shoulder to look at what she was preparing—homemade pulled pork and fries. Yes. "But I will definitely be down for dinner when you call."_

 _"Oh, but sweetie, do you need to pack now?" Mrs. Taylor asked, frowning at her son. She gestured towards her husband with a pair of tongs before resting her hand on her hip. "There's something your father and I wanted to talk to you about. We know you're excited to go on your trip but—"_

 _"More than excited, mom," Zack interrupted. He backed towards the stairs, knowing if he got caught he would never hear the end of it. His mother would speak a lecture when she got into 'wanting to talk' to him about something. "That's why I need to go pack."_

 _"Son, this is very important," Mr. Taylor insisted. He put his newspaper down and Zack paused. His father always meant business if he could be torn away from his daily reading of he newspaper. Zack always told him that the internet was a thing, but there he was everyone morning, flipping through the sports section to start. "We know that there's not going to be any supervision and us parents have talked and believe we can trust you all without anyone being there."_

 _"And we'll call you if there's an emergency," Zack insisted. He continued to take small steps backward. His father's steely gaze on him made him pause then walk further into the kitchen. "Pop, I know what you're going to say. 'Make good choices', 'Don't get way in over your head'…'Be smart'…"_

 _"You're getting older now and there are more important things to speak about," Mr. Taylor insisted. "Like experimenting. Sex and drugs and—"_

 _"—We already got this from Ms. Appleby, pop," Zack interrupted. "We know how to be careful and everything." He held up his hands. "And besides, I think you're a bit late on the sex-talk, we did have Sex-Ed in school." He hurried from the room, calling over his shoulder. "Call me when dinner's ready, we can talk then!"_

"Dad, I'm sorry," Zack whimpered.

Mr. Taylor broke down. First one tear escaped his eye, then another, and another. His lower jaw rapidly trembled, he grabbed his wife and son in his arms, holding them as tightly as they could. Worked to protect them in the way he'd always wanted to.

Just as Zack had wanted to do, having taken on the power of the Mastodon as a means to keep his family safe. It'd worked to keep him safe. It worked to keep his friends safe. But it hadn't made him grow up enough to know that despite being a superhero he was still human.

Humans were vulnerable.

And they paid the price for his actions.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, this one sure was as emotional as the last. I don't do a lot with the rangers' parents (though I think I showed them well enough in the Avalon series) so having them here to (rightfully) see their children is fun for me, especially with the way the rest of the parents react to all of this.

Doesn't mean things are easier for Zack, though.

 **~Av**


End file.
